All’s Fair
by starryeyeddreamer19
Summary: It started out as just another case, one more rung on the ladder to not only greatness but recognition as well. However, somewhere along the line everything changed…and it was all his fault.
1. You're Beautiful

Soooo it's winter break and my college applications are finally out of the way... that obviously could mean only one thing- fan fiction time. It might be pointless, even out of character at times, but hey- if it amuses me that's all that really matters. So, without further ado I present "All's Fair"

Actually I lied… first comes the disclaimer ;D sooooo I do not own the characters, or any obscure references that I might make. I tend to make a lot of them so I'm not even going to bother going back and re-reading every chapter to try to find them all, sorry –o-ll

* * *

_My life is brilliant.  
My love is pure.  
I saw an angel.  
Of that I'm sure.  
She smiled me on the subway.  
She was with another man.  
But I won't lose no sleep on that,  
'Cause I've got a plan._

_-James Blunt_

**You're Beautiful**

Inaba; a small town where it rained more days then its inhabitants cared to count. When the far from urban area was not being beat to death by the crystal like heavenly tears it was shrouded by a veil of fog that's foreboding nature was only dismissed by the laughter of students as they traveled to and from Yasogami High School. Though the town was a far cry from perfection it was home for the young Tatsumi boy who, currently, was returning home from yet another errand. Upon his mother's request he had ventured via train to Okina City to purchase the newest butterfly print fabric for their textile shop. It was a deep maroon color with gold trim to accent the crimson butterflies which were strategically placed on the fabric. Even the rebellious boy had to admit that it was something else, though he would beat someone to death with his bare hands if they ever attempted to quote him on it.

Fingers drumming against the cool metal that outlined the window, the delinquent's ice blue eyes scanned the ever shifting horizon. At the pace the train was moving it appeared to be impossible for him to focus on a single object for an extended period of time. As the young man's eyes began to flutter closed, and his arms crossed themselves tightly over his chest, a soft yet affirmative voice caught his attention. "Yakushiji I can travel perfectly fine on my own. I will have you know that I am no longer a child in need of assistance with even the simplest tasks." There was poison dripping from the last statement, so much so that it was hard to contain the small laugh that was quickly intensifying in his throat.

"Excuse me, it appears that someone finds it amusing to eavesdrop on our conversation. We will finish this upon my arrival to the estate." As the young boy across from the black clad rebel hung up his cerulean cell phone Kanji managed to crack open a single eye to observe just what was making such a childish fuss. What he found was a petite boy with cobalt locks concealed by an oversized cadet cap whose face was contorted into a mix of both frustration and annoyance. "Can I help you?" It was really quite hilarious to hear such a condescending tone coming from the mouth of one not even half his height. Figuring that he had no better way to spend the rest of the journey the bleach haired boy decided to see just how far he could push the boy.

"Actually yeah- mind keepin' it down over there? I'm tryin' to sleep, a'ight?" The look he got in return for the statement was eerily similar to the ones police officers often gave him. God, people could be such a pain, and something told him that this little boy would be no exception. What was he, thirteen or something? No matter what tone his fellow rider had adopted it was not fooling the most feared delinquent in all of Inaba. He was scared, that was all there was to it. Probably had never been on a train before without that guy on the other end of his phone call; what did they call men like that, mannies?

Blood quickly rising to the small boy's face he clenched and released his dainty looking fists as if trying to release some pent up stress. "This is a public form of transportation. If you wish to doze off I suggest you return home first." The cadet cap wearing boy muttered darkly through clenched teeth. He recognized the boy wearing a bullet around his neck from the files he had been sent earlier that morning. Third manila envelope from the top; Kanji Tatsumi, age 15, date of birth January 19th, 1996, height 183 cm, weight 65kg, blood type A. Though his photographic memory allowed the young detective to recall such information on the drop of a hat it had, by no means, prepared him for a chance meeting with the delinquent. Although the boy with a scar over his eye looked relaxed now the case files spoke heavily about his short temper and violent outbursts. Perhaps it actually would have been better to bring an adult with him on the train, or at least his badge. The golden shield would be enough to stop the troublemaker from advancing further, right?

A small smirk danced across the bleach haired boy's lips as he appeared to be pondering what his traveling companion had just said. "Nah; I like the motion of the train, 'ya know? It's very…calming." Yet something in his voice alerted the young detective to the boy in black's charade. He was merely toying with the cadet cap wearing passenger and that alone was infuriating. So, without another word the petite boy swiveled his body to face out the window. He would not be badgered into some childish argument; he needed to prepare for the case at hand. Mysterious murders, the local police without a single lead, not a suspect in sight- it was exactly what the young detective prince needed to get himself on the map, to prove that he was far more than some small child just playing cops and robbers. He would unravel the case singlehandedly at such an alarmingly fast rate that even the head detective of Inaba's head would spin and soon the entire world would know his name.

"Yo, shortie" An impatient voice called for the third time, though it was the first time the words actually reached the cobalt haired boy's ears. Cerulean orbs opening wide in alarm the realization that the space between the two had decreased dramatically nearly gave the minute detective a heart attack. Apparently, in Inaba, not acknowledging a person gave them the right to sit across from you and wave their hand in front of your face; joy. Backing up a bit in his seat the boy made a desperate attempt to regain his composure. Pulling his treasured cadet cap down over his eyes to conceal his surprise, and lack of focus, he muttered a few inaudible words that Kanji figured were directed at him and was positive that they were not to kind. Of course that was only more fuel for his arrogant smile which, in turn, only succeeded in escalating the detective's anger.

"Might I inquire as to why you have taken it upon yourself to give me a migraine?" The vertically challenged boy asked weakly, quickly becoming sick of the current company. He could have had Yakushiji, a man his grandfather employed to look after the cobalt haired boy, drive him to their estate on the outskirts of the rural town but no. No; he had to do everything himself. He had to be a big boy right now and take the train, for the first time, alone. Currently he was not sure which he was more annoyed at- the Tatsumi boy, or his own ego. As if the bleach haired boy's smile was not infuriating enough he actually possessed the nerve to laugh at his complaint. With a light shrug the rebellious teen slouch forward a bit in his seat, resting his forearms across his knees,

"No reason in particular." He motioned, with a quick wave of the hand, to the rest of the train car which was practically empty aside from an older couple at the front. "Just ain't many options to choose from." Now the entire town of Inaba may have considered the heir of the textile shop to be a menace but, in reality, he had a great deal of respect for his elders. There was no way in hell that he would ever harass the people at the front of the car; he wouldn't even dream of it. But the hour or so journey back to his home could get quite lonely if there was no conversation to take part in. And, to be fully honest, if he slept there was a good chance that the bleach haired boy would miss his stop and that would only succeed in giving his mother a miniature heart attack when he did not arrive home for an extra hour. He allowed his glassy eyes to fixate themselves on the small figure before him once more. There was something odd about this boy... but he just could not place his finger on what it was. "But I'm sorry, a'ight? I didn't mean to upset ya." Okay so it was a lie, but a little white lie every now and then never hurt anybody. "First time goin' to Inaba? I only ask cuz ya look a bit frazzled."

Did the cobalt haired detective really look that bad? And to think, grandfather had been complimenting his stoic facial expressions mere hours before. Maybe taking the train was more than a mistake, perhaps it was a drastic error. From now on the boy would be traveling everywhere he needed to go in a car… or a boat… or a plane… just not in a train. Clearing his throat a bit the petite boy began to fiddle nervously with the frilled collar of his white undershirt. "It is, but I assure you that I am more than capable of dealing with any situation that may arise. I think you are the confusion mental fatigue, which I am experiencing due to conversing with you, with restless panic which I feel free to say that I suffer from nothing of the sort." As happy as the boy would have been to let the conversation end with that the absent minded gaze from the taller boy across from him signaled that he would not be so fortunate. At a loss for what else to say he merely extended a hand to the delinquent. "My name is Naoto Shirogane, a pleasure to make your acquaintance-" He quickly cut himself off before filling in the boy's name. Adding that detail would only bring up questions into his personal life as to how he came about that information; and that was a lengthy talk that the detective prince did NOT want to ever be a part of.

"Kanji, Kanji Tatsumi. Naoto eh? Like Naoto Hiroyama?" The bleach haired boy joked, or at least attempted to. From the slight tilt of the head and clueless blink it became apparent that the cadet cap wearing boy had no idea what he was talking about. "Never mind. So what brings ya to Inaba? Obviously not the weather." Oh yes, the cerulean eyed boy slightly recalled reading in the case file that, when it was not raining, the land was shrouded in a thick fog. More importantly, murdered victims were appearing along with the fog; a key factor if could say so. It might be proof that said murderer was nothing but a coward who could only go about his or her business when they were a hundred percent positive that no one could possibly see them. It was shameful, really. But he had to come up with a believable answer, and fast, for the Tatsumi boy was staring eagerly at him; patiently awaiting an answer.

"Actually my grandfather has fallen ill and my mother sent me to care for him." That was a pretty good makeshift story, no? Sure his grandfather was in spectacular health and his mother, along with his father, had perished in a car accident years ago but that was far from the point. He would, most likely, never see this boy again so making up a cover story was easy enough. Now if he actually had to follow through with it that would be a completely different story. The fact that the Shirogane estate had a multitude of servants, who catered to his old relative's every whim and could easily restore him back to health far better than a fifteen year old ever could, would be hard to explain if his cover was ever blown. But there was no compromising situation at the moment; just two total strangers sitting on a train waiting eagerly for the moment where they would part ways. However, much to his confusion, the boy pressed the matter further.

"Oh man, that sucks. I'm sorry." It was a bit strange, and almost alarming, to see the delinquent with ten pages over the normal amount in his case file managing such a look of pity. Indeed, his face had fallen into a sickeningly serious look of understanding that he had only received once before- and that was from his grandfather. "Is he in the hospital?" There was something in the way he said that last word that lead Naoto to believe that maybe, just possibly, that pity look was not only intended for him. There had to be something in his case file that explained it but, much to the prince's embarrassment, he had only taken the time to examine the boy in the leather jacket's previous offences. "If ya ever need any help or somethin' ma goes there pretty frequently." The short-tempered boy waved his hands in front of his face after he realized that could imply that his mother was not well. "But she's fine! She just…likes to visit 's all."

Oh great, now the cobalt haired boy was beginning to feel guilty for having lied to his travel partner. But he was a bully right? The delinquent most likely lied on a daily basis, so this was almost like karma; it was justified, more or less. "That's very kind of you to offer, but I am more than certain that my assistance is all that is required." Not that it would be torturous to meet with a mother figure on an almost daily basis; to the contrary, it would be most delightful. But that would involve dragging his grandfather into the lie and forcing him to fake an illness which was out of the question. It mattered little though; all he could do was hope that the Tatsumi boy realized what a privilege it was to have such a person that he could freely offer up. If it were the other way around the cadet cap wearing boy would, no doubt, still be clinging to the woman that bore that title- refusing to let go no matter what the circumstance might be.

"If ya insist shortie, but when ya die from being overworked don't say I didn't warn ya." The bleach haired boy concluded with a light, almost carefree, laugh and smile that Naoto could not help but return. "So kid, how old are ya anyway? I'm thinkin' twelve. thirteen tops?" This, however, cause the petite boy to frown a great deal. Perhaps he did not like being so young? But time would fix that, yes indeed, in the blink of an eye he would be the age the black clad boy was now. Though he seemed a bit stuck up, over the top serious, and horribly dull now the textile store heir was sure that he would grow into a fine young man. But, if the pipsqueak kept leering at the delinquent he just might not make it to such an age.

"For your information I happen to be fifteen years of age. In fact I am almost sixteen considering my birthday is the twenty-seventh of April." The vertically challenged boy nearly spat as he glared daggers at the boy across from him. Sure his height was a bit on the short side but that was no reason to assume that he was simply a mere child! People were constantly judging him as a child, even after they had an intellectual conversation with him. Back home the local police took the utmost joy in speaking down to him or using insulting titles such as 'squirt', 'kiddo', or his least favorite 'short stuff'. Even the title the world had bestowed on him was an insult. The Detective Prince? He could not just be an ace-detective; oh no, they had to incorporate something about his lack of age. But he was not going to take such abuse from a boy that was nearly nine months his junior. Just thinking about such a lack of respect was enough for him to grit his teeth, a nasty habit that he had long since abandoned after his grandfather informed him that it 'was childish'. He was the closest thing there was to an adult…he had to be.

"You serious?" Was all the boy, well on his way to becoming a criminal, could say as he sat, mouth agape, staring at the cougar colored petticoat wearing boy. Well that was unexpected, but there was no way in hell that he was ever going to call this kid sempai so it didn't really matter. However, the gaze he was receiving at the moment was not a friendly one and it was certainly making him uncomfortable. Deciding that a change to a lighter subject was in order he tried his hardest to attempt small talk. Normally he could not stand people, let alone talking to them, yet something about this boy was different. It sounded ridiculous, completely idiotic, but for some reason he just wanted to hear the boy's voice. And, perhaps, he might be able to get the cobalt haired boy to laugh. "So… ya do any sports?" The detective raised a questioning eyebrow and he instantly regretted asking. "Haha, kidding" The boy added quickly, trying to make the laughter bubbling from his throat sound more relaxed. "But ya must do somethin' in your free time, right?"

Oh how the Detective Prince longed to say something witty such as 'unlike you, I do not dilly dally around aimlessly while giving the police hell'. But once again it involved using information that the boy across from his had not offered. It required the use of prior background knowledge and, though he doubted the boy would be intelligent enough to put two and two together, it was best that he kept up the innocent visitor charade. Instead he replied with an answer that was surprisingly truthful. "I enjoy immersing myself in detective novels." The errand boy did not seem all that surprised this time; in fact he merely nodded and uttered a light 'ah' as if it was completely and totally predictable. An uncomfortable silence surrounded the two once more but this time, seeing as how he had killed it yet again, the cobalt haired boy felt as if it was his duty to ask the next question. Although he did not plan on actually listening to the answer out of concern for what the delinquent had to say perhaps he could use this as an opportunity to gain some knowledge about the boy that he would, most likely, be seeing around the precinct on a regular basis. According to his manila case file Kanji Tatsumi was a familiar face at the Inaba police station. "What is it you have there?"

The boy in a jet black, presumably leather, jacket followed the other boy's deep sapphire hues to where he had been sitting ten or so minutes ago. There, on the seat next to where he had chewed over the idea of taking a nap, was the sea green bag with his purchase from the fabric store. Now it was not like the crimson colored fabric was not astounding and worth showing off, oh no- nothing like that, it was just that he had a reputation to protect. If people found out that he was running errands for his mother it would make him seem like some sort of momma's boy. Not to mention that he was carrying around girly fabric; it had butterflies on it for chrissake. Clearing his throat quite loudly to draw the smaller boy's attention away from the object across the way the bleach haired boy raised a single eyebrow. "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

Now even the tightly wound petite detective had to admit that the Top Gun reference was a bit funny. Bringing a single, fragile looking, hand to his lips the cobalt haired boy allowed a small chuckle to break his stoic appearance. Perhaps this boy was not a complete fool. But, as the silence enveloped them once again, the bleach haired delinquent took the opportunity to scratch the back of his scalp and grin idiotically. So scratch that, he was definitely a fool. However fools rarely turned out to be anything more than that; a fact that caused the young detective to ponder just how this boy was such a nuisance to the local police force. Sure he was rough of the outside but something told the cobalt haired boy that, deep down, he was not the type to get into trouble. Raising his cerulean orbs to examine the bleach haired boy once more the petite boy uttered a single inquiry. "So tell me Mr. Tatsumi, what is Inaba like?"

"Mr. Tatsumi? There's really no need to be so formal kiddo." Apparently he had not taken the hint that the boy before him was not the type to laugh at petty insults. Rather, he was just fortunate that the young man's trusty weapon was not in its concealed holster on his hip. Had it been then one could be sure that the barrel of said weapon would now be aimed at the rebellious boy's cranium and the bullet he wore around his neck would not be the only metal brushing against his skin. "But back to ya question, close your eyes." There was a brief hesitation before the petite boy slowly allowed the lids of his eyes to glide closed. "Get ready because this is going to take some serious effort." Kanji stated in an authoritative voice which caused the boy to straighten up in his seat and press his eyes even tighter together. "Now for Inaba… imagine nothin', lots and lots 'a nothin'." A single eye shot open and the cobalt haired boy leered at his bleach haired travel companion. "Hey now! You have no right to get mad. You asked and I answered. There ain't _nothin' _in Inaba." He reiterated, stressing the word nothing for added emphasis.

Ain't; what terrible grammar skills this boy possessed. Was Inaba schooling that underfunded that it sent its students off into the world with such little knowledge. Honestly, that was fifth grade language for god's sake. But perhaps it was just his delinquent behavior which, according to his case file, kept him from going to class more often than not. Either way he was now going to need to have a long chat with not only the lead police investigator but also the principal of the local high school. Grammar had always been the cadet cap wearing boy's pet peeve and there was no way that such a statement could go unnoticed and unreported. "Certainly you must have _something_. Otherwise the town's citizens would not be able to support themselves, no?" The cobalt haired boy inquired, though he was not really expecting an answer. Many of his 'questions' were meant to remain answerless; that is, unless he wanted to elaborate on them later. But they were never up for discussion and there was definitely no room for the other party to contribute their own ideas or opinions.

The bleach haired boy merely responded with a light laugh and a pat on the smaller teenager's head. "I guess ya right about that shortie. A'ight; we have a few shops, an inn, a lake with a play ground beside it, and a textile shop. That better?" If this pipsqueak knew what was best for him he would not press the matter any further. Every damn time he mentioned the textile shop people always asked 'oh really? Those still exist' or 'wow how lame' and the delinquent was becoming quite sick of out of towners dissing his home. So, when his train riding companion decided to hold his tongue and simply nod in acknowledgement the black clad boy was quite pleased. Perhaps, if this boy ended up going to Yasogami High School, they might actually be friends. He seemed like a strange individual, and the other students were always so cliquey, so maybe he would be left on his own as well. Then they could become friends and- never mind, it was a silly thought. Of course they were shooting the breeze now, they were more or less forced to or else ride along in awkward silence, but as soon as they stepped off this train everything would go back to normal. He would still be the local punk and this Naoto character would still be the mysterious new boy in town that all the local girls wanted to get to know. It was inevitable.

"Oi; is that the town?" The petite boy inquired suddenly as something off in the distance caught his attention. It was by no means large enough to be a city, but hopefully part of the size issue was merely due to the fact that they were still a ways off. The Tatsumi boy had been correct in his description, there was little to offer in a place that size. The sleek metal train appeared to be traveling through flood plains at the moment, how strange. Most were filled with dirt or other such materials to have housing complexes built upon. But such a rural way of living could be a nice change of pace. No busy streets where you had to risk your life every time you wanted to go to the store, a real mailbox rather than just another slot in the high class hotel's main lobby, and even a small community where everyone probably knew just what everyone else was doing. The ideal conditions for solving a murder case; so then, how could it be that this serial killer was still such a mystery to the local authorities?

"Hm?" Now it was the bleach haired delinquent's turn to gaze out the window. Behind a good sized hill lay the tops of a few buildings located within the northern end of the shopping district. "Yup, that's it. Sorry it's not more impressive but I warned ya." He added with a light shrug of his broad shoulders. The boy before him was glued to the window now so his words went unnoticed. But it mattered little; in a matter of moments they would arrive and he would be disappointed. Everyone always was and, truthfully, who could blame them? They were a tiny country town where nothing major ever happened. Well, aside from now; there had been something on the news about some murders or something. But he never paid much attention to the news, especially not to the police report section. Of course half of that was due to the fact that there was a good chance he would be on it at some point. A few days ago some wannabe professional interviewer came around asking him questions and shit, like he would really answer to anyone wearing a press badge. God, the nerve of some people.

With a booming whistle, and sharp screech of the large wheels coming to a halt, the train slowly pulled into the station. The textile shop heir grabbed the bag containing his mother's new fabric off the chair and offered the petite boy a hand up. At first the cadet cap wearing boy merely gazed at the outstretched hand, as if pondering the consequences of actually touching the delinquent. But, with a slight smile, he finally accepted and was pulled to his feet. The height difference was even more pronounced while the two were standing, with the cobalt haired boy coming to only about half way up the bleach haired boy's torso. As they exited the train an uncomfortable silence befell the two. What should they say? 'See you later' was a bit too informal. 'Nice talking with you' just sounded old fashioned and rushed. 'See you around' was a brush off and everyone knew it. So instead they just walked silently side by side down the steps and, finally, into Inaba. The paved road before them was about double the width of the ones back home but there was only a single car on it. A black traditional four passenger car was pulled off slightly to the left and an older gentleman was standing beside it. The vertically challenged boy had never been so thankful for not having a limo present than he was right now.

As the cobalt haired boy veered of path and towards the car the bleach haired boy raised an eyebrow. With a little crack of the knuckles he motioned towards the man by the car. "Who's the suit?"

With a small wink and a one eighty spin the cobalt haired boy replied "Keep that up… and you'll never find out."

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**A/N:** I know it's a bit dull now but I promise it'll get better. I just needed an introduction more or less… please feel free to review! ...although flames will make me sad….. Oh and I know that the Megami Tensei wiki says that she wears an officer's cap but, in my opinion, it looks more like a cadet cap. Officers' caps seem to slant downward in the back and, from what I have observed, her hat appears to be quite even.

**Next chapter:** I like to lead when I dance! With a murder mystery engulfing the small town a certain young detective takes it upon himself to speak with who he assumes will be the next victim.


	2. I Like to Lead When I Dance

**A/N:** Chapter Two! And, as promised, it shall be far more eventful than the first. Well maybe not far more… I do like to ease into things…THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!!! Sorry, I can't help myself. Anyway I hope you can forgive my random outbursts, look past my odd taste in music, and enjoy the story.

* * *

_Your eyes do the speaking.  
They talk with each glance.  
My will-powers creaking.  
I might take a chance.  
And though you're the charmer,  
who could bend my armor.  
I like to lead when I dance._

_-Frank Sinatra_

**I Like To Lead When I Dance**

"Young men recklessly riding their motorcycles, disturbing the peace of a quiet rural town… our special report took a turn for the violent when one of the apparent leaders attacked the camera crew!"

"The hell are you punks doing here!? This ain't a show! Get bent!"

With a sigh of annoyance the adolescent Shirogane boy flicked a switch on the small black remote and the screen grew dark. Was there really such little news in this town that the media had to do a 'special report', or so they claimed, on a local teenage delinquent? And furthermore; what had happened to the humorous young man he had met on the train into Inaba? It was as if the bleach haired boy had become an entirely different person- the one his case file insisted existed. With a spiteful bat of the wrist the cobalt haired boy waved away Yakushiji who was slowly approaching the ebony table where the young master was seated. In the older man's hands lay a sterling silver tray with a glass of orange juice on it and some foreign dish that the cadet cap wearing boy was not looking forward to ever partaking in the consumption of. Nodding his head a bit the man left, but not before giving the boy a stern look that told him dinner would be waiting whenever he finished contemplating this new idea. However, said dinner would not be reheated so he better come to a conclusion within the next several minutes.

But it was not like he even _could _eat, not when his mind was reeling like this. Had he, the great detective prince, been so easily deceived by this punk's facade? No; he had seemed so sincere a few days ago, and it was highly improbable that the cadet cap wearing boy's initial assumption was wrong. So then, why was the leather wearing boy behaving in such a juvenile manner and lashing out like that? He was so much better than what the petite by had just witnessed on the large thin television screen. The vertically challenged boy's deep hues dilated as a grimmer and more sinister thought danced across his mind. Two completely different personalities fighting for dominancy within a single vessel could be an early sign of a serial killer. But no- not the Tatsumi boy. Sure he was rough around the edges but deep down there was no threat. When they had conversed before the alert boy had detected no signs of a danger being present. If anything the boy with a bullet around his neck seemed to have a soft side. The way he gently spoke of his mother and the look of pure sorrow he offered at the mention of illness confirmed the detective prince's belief that he was, as his mother had said time after time in many a witness testimony, a 'good boy'.

However, just because the rebellious boy was not the culprit Naoto was searching for did not mean that he was in the clear just yet. If anything this night's news story put the delinquent at a greater risk for becoming the next target. It had been shown that he was not only a nuisance to society but also violent menace. If this serial killer was going for some sort of 'god of justice' label than he/she would definitely now be weighing the benefits of eliminating the bleach haired boy. The petite detective nervously began to fidget in the tall seat that kept his feet, nested away within new brown loafers, from reaching the ground. If something were to happen to the boy he would feel just awful. Sure he might be a problem for the police but the cobalt haired teenager held no personal vendetta against him. In the Shriogane boy's eyes he was nothing more than a reckless, slightly temperamental, child with violent tendencies yet the best of intentions. It was settled then; the boy avoiding dinner decided with an affirmative nod of the head. In the morning, or late afternoon depending on how long it took him to finish reviewing the case data the Inaba police had provided him with, he would have to visit the boy's place of residence and confront him directly with his concerns.

xx

Dressed in the same navy petticoat, white ruffled shirt, plaid pants, and cadet cap that he had worn in their first meeting Naoto walked briskly down the shopping district's main road. Coming from the opposite direction were a few girls and, judging by their matching sweater and skirts, they had just come from school. At first he thought that they were cutting their last period class until more children in similar outfits appeared on the horizon. The town's high school must have just gotten out… what horrible timing he had. As the two girls passed by their steps slowed a bit and they exchanged glances and giggles. The brunette even attempted to wave to the detective prince, but it was not returned. With a hurt expression the long haired girl turned away and her taller companion glared daggers at the cobalt haired boy. He merely brushed the look of hate off and continued on his way. Thank god he would never be forced to actually attend classes with people like that. Honestly, he would rather slit his own throat than associate with the likes of them.

A few minutes later he found himself glancing from the slip of paper in his hand to the building that's address it indicated. It was quaint looking and, from the sign outside, it appeared to be the textile shop the bleach haired boy had informed him about on the train. It was almost humorous to think that someday the leather wearing delinquent would inherit such a place. Releasing the breath that he did not even realize he had been holding the small boy moved to open the sliding door. What he found inside could have been predicted: rows of colorful fabric, a few patterned kimonos hanging up, shelves full of different sized boxes, and a few silky looking scarves on display. "Hello? May I help you?" Inquired a soft spoken voice. At the sound of said voice the detective prince moved to remove his cap for fear of showing disrespect, but the woman who had stepped out of the backroom and was drawing closer merely smiled gently. "Oh no, your hat is fine my dear. Please, make yourself comfortable." It was all the boy, so determined to grow up, could do to fight back the tears that were beginning to mist his eyes. Dressed in a deep green kimono with slightly graying hair tied up in a bun this woman was just like what Naoto had always pictured a mother to be. It was no understatement to say that he was more than just slightly jealous.

"Oh-uh, thank you." The boy responded suddenly when it dawned on him that a great deal of time was beginning to pass. In fact the woman had already sat down near the store's indoor step and was now beginning to examine him. "Are you the owner of this store ma'am?" When she nodded and smiled brightly the cobalt haired detective's heart almost broke again. But he had to keep that stoic look that had taken years to perfect. Wipe away all memories of the day his carefree life ended. That time was nothing now; that child was not him. "That must make you Mrs. Tatsumi. My name is Naoto Shirogane and it an honor to make your acquaintance." With that statement he calmed himself immediately. Just saying that name was enough to smother the child within him that had been fighting for control mere moments before. The older woman shook his hand and, to his great pleasure, did not bother with questioning why she had never seen him around before. The town certainly was small and he had already had to explain who he was to just about everyone at the police station. Honestly, talk about not informing your men, the majority of people at the station had no idea who he was or why he was there; and the few that did were not at all pleased with his presence.

"Hello Naoto-kun, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well." The woman finally responded as they released hands. "Judging from your last name I would say that are related to the kind man who lives on the outskirts of town. Would he happen to be your grandfather?" At least her needing to ask proved that the man did not go around talking about him. That would be not only embarrassing but somewhat a nuisance. Not to mention that if he had told this woman she might have gone and released some of said information to her son. Speaking of the delinquent, how on earth did he ever decide that his actions were presentable? This sweet woman was absolutely nothing like him; not in the slightest. If the leather wearing punk was not able to control his own actions then he should at least consider how his choices affected his mother.

"I am, and he is." The cobalt haired boy replied with a dangerously too carefree smile that he quickly morphed back into a look void of all emotion. He had to remain professional; otherwise he would be no better than what the police thought he was. There was no reason for childish actions like smiling and crying, they accomplished nothing-and he had something to prove. Just wait, when he made a name for himself as the number one ace detective in the world all these men at the precinct would be _begging_ for his forgiveness. Pleading with him to forget their ignorance towards his abilities and intolerance for his age. "As lovely as your store is ma'am I was wondering if your son was in? You see I have a few things I wanted to discuss with him." The woman's face fell a bit as she slowly shook her head. From the look she was possessing it was clear that she had not seen her son in quite a while. Perhaps the previous night's report had something to do with that. Before he could say anything further a bell rang and four teenagers, presumably students considering the boys were in uniform and the girls were in the uniform's skirts, entered the building.

"Hello" Called the black haired girl. Her scarlet sweater was not exactly what the young detective would call 'in agreement with uniform rules' but no one else seemed to have a problem with it. Though he had never actually been to the building the cadet cap wearing boy could be sure that Yasogami High was far less strict about rules than the learning institutions back home had been. Whether this was a positive or negative trait was still up for debate but he would always be on the negative side of such debate. The brunette to the right her was also wearing a top that was not specified as being included. The green jacket with three pins on it had to be a distraction in class, how could it not be? Did everyone ignore the rules? Or was it just a class full of black jackets and sweaters plus one red and green? That would not be odd, not in the slightest.

"Ah Yuki-chan it's so nice to see you." The older woman replied with yet another bright smile. Just how could she have such a bright outlook and sunny disposition when her son was constantly getting in trouble with the law? Still, the motherless boy was not even going to try to fathom how deep a parent's love for their child must go. One thing was for certain though; if his parents were still alive they would only hold him back from reaching his true potential. He was better off on his own, or at least with a grandfather who knew not to press the subject matter further. Yes, that was the decision he had come to when he was still very small and it was what he would stick to. Anything else, like possibly having a mother and father who wanted to help him succeed and had smiles to rival this woman's, would just be too painful to accept.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me ma'am." He needed to get out of here; it was becoming far too uncomfortable. Not to mention that, with all the silences it produced, he was finding time to reflect upon his personal problems. All that ever led to were useless emotions that would completely throw him off his game for the rest of the day. And, with a serial killer threatening the safety of this small town's inhabitants, he could not afford not to be completely focused. He had to give it one hundred percent every moment of every day for someone's life could be the price of overlooking a minute detail. The more people that died the more out of control the case would become and, eventually, they would take him off it. No one wanted a 'kid' on the case to begin with. Every time he walked through the evidence room the boy could feel dozens of eyes on him just waiting to pounce. They were just looking for him to screw up, counting the days until he was out of their lives forever. But no, he would not give them that satisfaction. The petticoat wearing boy was above them and would prove it fair and square.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more." The kind hearted woman said. The smallest hint of sadness could be detected in her voice but, considering the were in the presence of mere high school students, it was safe to assume that he was the only one who picked up on it. If the grey haired woman was his mother there was no way that the cobalt haired boy would ever upset her. Just the opposite actually; he would do everything within his power to keep her from ever feeling anything but joy. Right now the detective prince was torn between wanting to confront the Tatsumi boy about the case and wanting to give him a stern lecture on is behavior. Bowing a bit to the woman he took a step back to indicate that he was about to head out and that the small group of better make room for him to pass.

"That's alright; you've given me plenty to think about. Thank you." With that he brushed lightly past a few of the teenagers and out through the front door…only to come face to face with the bleach haired delinquent himself. In reality it was more like face to chest with the local punk but it was not the cadet cap wearing boy's fault that this newcomer was far more vertically gifted than he. The rebellious teen took a few steps back as he opened his mouth as if about to scold the petite prince. However something halted him; perhaps the bullet wearing boy remembered the cobalt haired train passenger? He had gone as far as to wear the same outfit after all in the hopes that it would keep the Tatsumi boy from accidentally assaulting him. "Mr.T-I mean, Kanji." He corrected himself, recalling that once the boy had told him not to be so formal. "How are you? It's been a while." With that statement the boy in front of him managed a look of both shock and confusion. Come to think of it people, most likely, did not ask the black clad how he was on a daily basis. Indeed, if it were not for the case the young detective himself would not even be conversing with him.

"Oh, Naoto, yea, I guess it has. I'm fine, but thanks for askin'." It was silly but the cadet cap wearing boy was quite pleased that his name had been remembered. But that was just because he wanted everyone to someday know his name, right? Of course; there was no reason to care who remembered it just as long as someone did. The juvenile delinquent raised a questioning eyebrow as he motioned towards his house. The vertically challenged boy did not exactly seem like the sowing type, and he was staying with his grandfather so he couldn't be picking something up for his mother, so what was he doing at Tatsumi Textiles? Could it be that the pipsqueak had stopped by looking for him? It seemed more than odd considering he never, not rarely but never, got visitors- unless of course they were cops. However he was new to town, so perhaps he did not know anyone else. Yes, that made far more sense than the boy actually wanting to hang out with him. Still, it might be nice if, for once, he could have a person who would walk with him to and from school or eat lunch with him on the roof every now and then like the other students did.

"Oh! Yes, well, I was actually looking for you." The petite detective piped up after realizing how shady it looked for him to be exiting the rebel's place of residence without ever having asked him for his address. He had to think fast, make up a story before the black clad boy could inquire about how he knew to look for him here. He had to lie…again. To be honest all these lies were beginning to hurt the cadet cap wearing boy's head. Naoto had always been a firm believer in the truth, but things were so complicated this time. And there was no way he could accomplish anything if this Kanji character knew the truth about his profession. "You had previously mentioned that there was a textile shop in town and it sounded like a safe place to ask for help from. I would hate to seem like a lost tourist." The boy added with a wide, one hundred percent fake, smile and light laugh. From somewhere within his petticoat pocket the cobalt haired boy felt his phone vibrate. Drat, it would appear that he had spent too much time conversing with Mrs. Tatsumi and was now being ushered back to the Shirogane estate. "But, alas, I fear I cannot stay to chat. Are you free tomorrow?" The boy inquired as he adjusted his cap a bit. "I presume you attend the local high school."

"T-Tommorrow's fine with me…" Kanji mumbled slightly, trying to conceal the fact that he was completely awe-struck. So short stuff had come looking for him, how flattering. A pity he could not stay longer, it would be nice to have someone else to talk to other than ma. But the new kid in town had indirectly complimented his mother and his house; it was a safe place, more people needed to understand that. Just because he had a bit of trouble controlling his anger did not mean that Tatsumi Textiles was a dangerous place. "Huh? S-School? 'Course I'm going to school…" So that was a lie, and he felt terrible about it, but there was no way that he was going to admit that he had been ditching class since as far back as he could remember. Good God; when was the last time he actually attended a full day of classes? Well it seemed that he would have to break his terrible attendance streak for at least a day. It was silly, he knew it was, but the bleach haired boy still possessed a need to show this boy that there was more to him then met the eye; that the textile shop heir could obey laws and actually be an upstanding member of society.

The authoritative teenager nodded his head slightly to acknowledge the statement. "Then I'll meet you at the gates after school tomorrow. I'm quite interested in you, Kanji-kun." With that he turned quickly on his heels and started off in the opposite direction. Just what was so important that it could not wait another half hour? Honestly, he was not a child anymore- and his belongings were all unpacked so it was not as if there was any work to be done. The cobalt haired boy had already made a stop at the precinct and filed away his paperwork, along with a few edited case files he had been asked to look into, so that could not be it. Grandfather better have a good reason for interrupting his investigation, otherwise there would be unnecessary hostile feelings during dinner later that evening. As he rounded the corner a small gathering of students attempting to hide behind a single, thin, metallic pole caught his attention. That was all the proof he needed; Inaba's school system WAS failing drastically.

The clack clad delinquent was left with his mind reeling at just what had really occurred. "D-Did he say he was interested…?" He stammered, a slight flushed tone engulfing his face. "He's a guy…and I'm a guy…but…he's interested in me…?" Surely he could not have meant it in that way. It was most likely just a misunderstanding. It had to be, right? He wasn't gay, that was for sure, but there was something alluring about the petite stranger. He seemed so frail and polite; if he had been a girl Kanji could be sure that he would be following him home in order to keep him safe. But he, once again he, was not female in the slightest and that important fact needed to be remembered. There was a loud crash from across the street and the bleach haired boy's gaze took hold on four panicking teenagers. His face instantly dropped as a horrid thought quickly consumed his mind. Just how much had they heard, and were they going to repeat any of it? "Huh? What the hell are you pricks lookin' at!?" The textile heir roared as they took off at speeds that were almost unfathomable. He had better not see them tomorrow at school or there were going to be some serious problems, of that you could be certain.

xx

The toughest student at Yasogami High School had opted out of his last period class and was, instead, spending his time attempting to fix his hair in the boy's first floor restroom. It seemed completely ridiculous, getting all dolled up just to meet with some person, basically a stranger, who had said some earth shattering things only the day before. How could he be so calm, just saying "I'm interested in you" and walking off like that? It could not have been a declaration of love, could it? Nah; it was most likely just the way they talked wherever the hell the kid was from. Yeah; that had to be it. There was nothing awkward about it, it was just a misunderstanding. No matter what those other kids thought he would denying it being anything more until the day he perished. Unless it wasn't. Just what was he supposed to do in that situation? Did that mean that this could possibly be a date? Oh god, that thought alone was enough to drain the color from his face. As the boy splashed some more cool water on his ghostly features he toyed with the idea about not showing up. But if it was a date Naoto would assume that he had stood him up and be hurt or possibly cry even, a thought that made the delinquent's heart ache. And if it was not a date then he would just look like some jerk and that might cause the cobalt haired boy to attempt to make new friends, leaving the Tatsumi boy alone once more. Either way it was a lose lose situation.

By the time the Detective Prince had reached the school the bell had long since rung. Of course this was partially on purpose. He absolutely despised all those high school girls who wore their hair in long, glamorous, styles and had their skirts rolled up to dangerously short lengths. The male students were just as bad; always looking down on him, both figuratively and literally, as if it was his decision to be so short. But now the amount of students was greatly reduced and only a lone dark figure stood by the entrance way. Naoto noted that he looked incredibly uncomfortable, and that he kept gazing around nervously, as if he was looking for someone other than the cadet cap wearing lad. "I didn't keep you waiting, I hope?" The boy inquired softly as he approached the boy with a bullet around his neck. As much as he had wanted to be a tad late the worried expression on the boy before him was beginning to cause a feeling of guilt to well up in his chest. He looked so lost and panicked, perhaps he should have arrived earlier so that he would not have been left on his own.

"No, I-I just got here too…" Sure he had been ready for about a half an hour but that time had been spent pacing around in the bathroom trying to decide as to whether or not he was going to just go straight home. In the end he decided that the other students could just go screw themselves because he was going to hang out with Naoto no matter what. But, as soon as he stopped by the gates, the threat of being labeled as the weird homosexual kid became quite real. That was why he had been on a constant lookout for those stupid kids from the previous day. They had not approached him during school, and he had heard no new rumors about himself during the course of the day, so he figured they had not caught most of his and the not quite a stranger's discussion. Yet, if they happened to see the two together once more, he was almost positive that life would become a living hell. He had not worked so hard to achieve the reputation of being a badass only to throw it out for the sake of this young boy. Well not so young, he was older than the punk after all.

"Marvelous, then shall we continue our conversation elsewhere?" The shorter of the two asked anxiously as he tilted his head a bit in the direction that he wished to go. The less people around to witness their discussion the better considering he had not read the Tatsumi boy his rights yet had every intention of interrogating him. "So what do you do for fun around here? My apologies for being so ignorant to rural life, but I have been living in the city for as long as I can remember." He admitted sheepishly, tugging at the brim of his cap so that it shielded his oceanic hues from sight. It would be best for him to take on the clueless traveler persona for a bit longer before he bombarded the boy with a string of questions he had spent the night before tactically planning out. First he would use the activities question to bring up juvenile delinquency, then law enforcement, then the murder cases, and finally how the boy was connected to the cases. And he was connected, after hours of late night reading and note taking the petite prince was sure of that.

"Well, personally, I don't do much…" The boy with a crew cut mumbled as he planted his hands firmly in his pants' pockets. Just how was someone like him supposed to answer that question? Well, you see Naoto; I enjoy beating the stuffing out of anyone who dares look twice at me. Or, even better, I happen to adore sowing small animals out of left over fabric and stuffing them with pillow fluff. Oh, and did I mention that sometimes I give them little accessories- just to spruce them up a bit, ya know. Yeah; that was exactly the answer this normal boy wanted to hear. It certainly would not scare him off or, at least, murder their somewhat friendship where it stood. "I like to skip rocks though." He inserted after a moment of silence. They were passing alongside the Samesagwa Flood Plains and it seemed like an intelligent thought at the time. Of course the fact that, from where the two were positioned, the water below was not visible was somewhat a downer. "Do ya know how to skip rocks? They can't have many lakes in the city." The boy responded first with a shake of the head, and then with a nod. The conversation was becoming awkward at an alarmingly fast rate and it was all his fault. This was exactly the reason he did not have many, any, friends. "Well then, I'll teach ya, a'ight?" Grabbing the boy's hand he attempted to help the smaller teen down the steep descent. It was not until he heard a light gasp that it dawned on the black clad boy just what he had done. However, as his icy gaze turned towards Naoto the boy gave no indication of having made the sound. His eyes went a bit further behind the boy to two students; the same brunette boy and blonde haired girl as the day before. "…The hell are you two doin'?"

All the cobalt haired boy could do was laugh as the bleach haired delinquent blushed like mad and charged after the two students.

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**A/N-**Was it any better? Please feel free to tell me what you think! At least the plot is finally beginning to get it into gear. As soon as another character is introduced things will speed right up… which is why I'm purposely keeping them out of the story for a while. Because, after saying that, you sooooooo can't guess who I'm talking about or anything..

**Next chapter:** Even angels fall! A sudden disappearance of the bleach haired rebel has Naoto on his toes. Just what can the cobalt haired detective prince do to save the one person he feels the most connected to? And who are these strange students that keep showing up wherever trouble arises?


	3. Even Angels Fall

**A/N:** So, by now, if you are still reading then I applaud you. I tend to get carried away with useless descriptions and pointless ranting, as if you hadn't noticed yet, so my writing can become quite boring extremely quickly. However, I do not plan on changing my style anytime soon…sorry if it annoys you…

* * *

_You laugh, you cry, no one knows why,  
But oh, the thrill of it all.  
You're on the ride,  
You might as well, open your eyes._

_-Jessica Riddle_

**Even Angels Fall**

"Sorry 'bout that." The rebellious boy muttered as he cursed slightly under his breath. His face was still a bit flushed but that was, most likely, a side effect from chasing his classmates around for the past twenty minutes. While he had been off in rage land the petite Detective Prince had managed to gather a small pile of rocks that appeared suitable for skipping purposes. The bleach haired delinquent had previously informed the cadet cap wearing boy that he would teach him the proper way to 'skip stones', had he not? So alright, it was a tad childish, but there was something in the darkest depths of the boy's psyche that was jumping for joy. How strange, he normally tried his hardest to remain emotionless in any and all circumstances; but this was different. Everything seemed different when Kanji was around…how terribly peculiar. But that was irrelevant. Without so much as a word the out-of-towner offered up one of the smooth, slightly reflective, stones that the flood plains had provided him with. "Heh, guess ya do wanna learn." The taller of the two added as he took the stone, resisting the urge to let his hand linger a moment longer over the petite boy's.

"A'ight, first ya have to place it between your thumb and uhhh that finger next to it with the weird name." Naoto seriously considered informing the boy that it was called an index finger; or, if you wanted a more accurate answer, the 'first finger' or the 'Jupiter finger'. But he merely bit his tongue; it was not his moment to shine. And besides, it would not be smart to risk upsetting the bullet wearing student. Sure he did not seem like the violent type normally but he had chased those 'two crazy lovebirds' around for quite a good deal of time. "Next ya have to sorta flick your wrist a bit while shifting your thumb forward and drawing your other finger back." When he had finished explaining a look of pride was clearly evident on his face; a nice change from the idiotic smiles he had offered up while on the train. "So placement-" He began, this time with a slightly more determined expression. "Then flick, slide, and…" With that he flung the stone a good ways off and watched triumphantly as it hit the glass like water at a perfect twenty degree angle. Five zigzagged hops, or skips as were most likely the proper term, later it found its way into the underwater graveyard of skipping stones that the young detective was sure must exist at the bottom of all lakes.

"Your turn." With those two four letter words the object of attention and the onlooker positions were reversed and the cobalt haired boy found himself in possession of one of the stones. Even though his deep orbs only lingered on the cool rock for a moment his reflection, and the awkward look on his face, was clearly evident. Taking great care in removing the clumsy expression, Naoto took a few quiet breaths. With each exhale he felt a bit more comfortable until the boy was finally able to confront the stone head on. His delicate fingers carelessly pushed up the brim of his cadet cap so that he would have a clear line of vision for the calculated toss. As the teenager prepared his stance and readied the stone he briefly recalled reading an article once on the subject. It was nothing major, just something to pass the time, which stated how Shin-ichiro Nagahiro and Yoshinori Hayakawa once developed a formula for skipping stones. At the time it seemed irrelevant and worthless knowledge, but now the young prince was quite pleased that he had bothered to read, or at least skim, it. The first few paragraphs had been filler if he recalled correctly, but then it said that If a person tilted a stone to about 20 degrees it would minimize the lowest impact velocity necessary for a bounce. Kanji seemed to have mastered that step without even knowing that such researched data even existed. The article went on to say that another important parameter was the spin velocity of said stone. High-spin velocity was necessary to keep the tilt of the angle constant during impact. With all these thoughts running through his mind at one time it was a miracle that any of it was actually registering in his subconscious. One moment the boy, destined to be something far greater than he now was, had the stone in his hand and the next it was sailing across the river. Three skips later it was engulfed by the watery abyss.

"Shit Naoto! What the hell do ya need me for?" The bleach haired delinquent exclaimed, mouth agape in wonder. If the pipsqueak could skip rocks like that then why was he even bothering with this little lesson? His outburst was meant to be taken as a joke but the cobalt haired detective had already hung his head in shame. The teenager probably was not used to wasting people's time; he did seem to be the uptight efficient type. As a matter of fact it was a small miracle that he was even taking time out of his most likely busy schedule to take part in such a juvenile activity. "A'ight then kiddo, how about we make a little bet?" At the word kiddo the boy before him tensed up, but at the last part of the sentence his ears perked up. With a raise of a deep blue eyebrow the petite prince straightened up and urged the not quite an upstanding citizen forward. "If I get a rock to have more skips than yours, well then, we'll meet back here tomorrow after school to hang out again. But, if you get more skips than me, I'll tell ya anything your little heart desires since you appear to be the nosy type. Sound good to you?"

"I agree to your terms; but, I assure you, I shall not lose." Now the detective prince was not exactly sure that was a promise he could keep, this local boy did have an abundance of experience under his belt, but he certainly had to try. It was exactly the prize he needed most at the moment. There would be no more beating around the bush, with success would come the answer to the vital question. Just what was Kanji Tatsumi's role in the Inaba murders? And, if god forbid he lost, the cadet cap wearing boy would only be out another afternoon and that would not be truly dreadful. If anything it was far more relaxing than filing cases at the precinct and listening to useless adult gibber gabber. If he thought that teenagers were bad adults were in a league all their own. Not only were there alcohol abuse instances, domestic violence threats, affairs, and divorces, but there was also constant shameless flirting amongst the married co-workers; it was disgusting, just disgusting. In these days there really was no hope for true love, was there? But he was getting lost in thought again and that was always dangerous. Nothing was more terrifying for the boy than realizing that he had just been zoning out and therefore had left his physical form as an easy target. Right now what he really needed to be doing were some much needed calculations for the ideal skipping session.

"And here we…go!" The rebel yelled as he spun his arm out in a terribly theatrical manner. As soon as it passed over his chest region the small rock went sailing through the air at an alarming rate. The petite detective could feel his breath becoming raspier and it seemed as if even his heart was slowing down. He could probably muster up the speed and accuracy for three skips, maybe four, so as long as Kanji's did not surpass that the cobalt haired boy was set. The tiny rock was going extremely fast, it would most likely just be absorbed by the water at this rate. Yes; there was nothing to worry about, he need not fret his silly little head any longer. Just as such thoughts began to calm the cadet cap wearing boy a series of miniature splashes broke the slight smile that had begun to form on his normally incredibly serious face. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Shoot. "Yeah! Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!" The bullet wearing boy cheered as he made a tight fist and pounded it into the palm of the opposite one. Naoto could feel his knees getting weaker and suddenly his stomach wasn't feeling so hot. Perhaps they could do they best two out of thee? But alas, that was not the agreed to contract and, although verbal deals not legally binding, it was still a sign of poor character to back out of one. And who knows, maybe he would miraculously get eight skips.

"Well, here goes nothing." With a barely audible sigh the vertically challenged teenager tossed his rock at the lake. If he had believed in some sort of almighty figure now would have been the perfect time for praying. Instead he took a moment to recall a simple phrase' Luck be a lady tonight'. Though he was not quite sure what Loesser had meant by that the boy figured it had something to do with luck staying true to a single person. It sounded reasonable enough; after all, who wanted their date running around with every guy in the room? Oh and flirting with strangers? Well that was just inconsiderate and horribly rude. So fine, as Brando sang in Guys and Dolls, luck, if you've ever been a lady to begin with, luck be a lady tonight. The child had fully intended on watching the outcome of his toss but, instead, found himself shutting his deep orbs tightly at the final moment of flight and first of impact. One splash, two, three, four, five, and then silence. Without even looking up it was clear that he had not been victorious. "Drat." A light laugh echoed in his head as the taller student placed a firm hand on the cadet cap wearing boy's head. "Yes yes, I know. I'll be here tomorrow for you to collect your pound of flesh Shylock." He muttered angrily, although it only caused more laughter to erupt from the bleach haired boy.

"It's not all that bad, squirt." And with that the textile shop heir took off running along the flood plains, cadet cap in hand. A look of horror flashed across the 'squirt's' eyes as the realization set in. That local punk now had in his possession the Shirogane family's most prized heirloom and that was not okay. Not to mention that without the wide brim to protect him from the sun's ultraviolet rays he was just asking for a nasty burn, which would only make him that much more of a joke at the precinct. Now he had never been all that good at sports, and a long coat with dress shoes was not exactly prime track wear, but this was a matter of great importance and therefore he would be forced to give it his all. Quick breaths, hand by the sides, don't try to take larger than average steps, and… he felt as though there was something else. But now was not the time for contemplating theories and reviewing data, no, now was the time for catching that blasted delinquent. "Better hurry up or I might just be keepin' your little hat thing." That was the final straw, if there had been anything holding the detective prince back it was no longer an issue, he had to reach the scarred boy and quickly.

"Kanji Tatsumi! Freeze!!!" It came out a bit more shrill and high pitched than intended but it certainly had the desired effect. The boy came to an almost instantaneous stop and whipped around to face the charging Naoto. The look on his face was one of both confusion and wonder. Perhaps he should have taken time to think up a better approach to stopping the punk, but time was of the essence. The sun was already beginning to set and if he was not home before twilight set in grandfather would certainly have his head. Still, the look on the delinquent's face told him that it had either come out too authoritative or, god forbid, too girly. He was still at that awkward no longer a child not quite a man stage and sometimes the fact that he needed to physically lower his voice slipped the cobalt haired boy's mind. But he merely waved the alarmed look off and pointed to the fabric that was being crumpled by the other boy's tight grip. Thank goodness he was not holding another person's hand or their metacarpals surely would have been shattered; definitely not worth it. For the girl of course, it wasn't as though he was actually considering doing anything more than ever accidently grazing the boy's arm. And accidently was the key word; the detective prince would keep his distance at all costs, after all, men didn't touch one another unless it was in the form of a firm acknowledging hand shake.

"Woah, kiddo, reachin' some high scales there." The bleach haired boy noted as the pint sized out-of-towner stormed towards him. It appeared that, since he had halted, the child no longer felt the need to run and could merely stomp angrily and hatefully towards his prey. This kid seriously needed to chill out. He was wound way too tightly and if the dark eyed boy did not learn to let loose and have some fun soon he was sure to explode. Although they were not quite friends yet- yet, what a sickeningly hopeful word, it made him sound like some friendship sick puppy- Kanji considered it his duty to bring some joy to the boy's life. Taking care of his grandfather all day could not be an enjoyable task. His grandfather! That's right; Naoto was supposed to be looking after the elderly man. Oh crap, now he felt like an asshole for keeping the boy out so long and forcing him to skip stones. Stupid, stupid, stupid; he was just so stupid. And now the kid had to hang out with him again tomorrow because of that stupid bet. Oh man, how selfish could he get? By now the furious teen was upon him, hand out, demanding for his cap. Happy to oblige, the boy with the tough exterior tossed it to the young prince; his eyes were glazed over as he stared at the ground, too ashamed to make eye contact. "Fine, just take it, a'ight? I'm outta here."

Fixing the beloved cadet cap upon his now disheveled cobalt locks the boy did not noticed the taller one turn on his heels until it was too late."Huh? Kanji-kun?" As his acquaintance moved in a way that suggested he may be about to flee the Shirogane child grabbed for his arm. "Where…are you going?" There was a split second of hurt in his voice before it became masked by the perfected calm persona he had been working on for as long as anyone could recall. Without bothering to answer the delinquent just tugged slightly, as if to shrug off the petite boy's almost dainty hand. He wasn't trying to be cruel or cold, but he just couldn't express how uncomfortable he was feeling at the moment. With a light sigh he let go and took a few steps back. "Fine, don't answer me. But I hope for your mother's sake that you intend on heading home shortly. Honestly, what are you thinking? Worrying such a kind woman-it's terrible." Naoto spat hatefully as he glared icy daggers at the back of the boy in front of him. What he wouldn't give to have a woman like that in his life. Someone to lovingly cook him meals, fret when he stayed out too late, nag him to clean his room, and so on. But no, fate had already snatched that woman up and viciously ripped her from his life. Still, he was such a good boy all the time…and kanji was, well, kanji. What wasn't wrong with this picture?

"Hey!" As his small form was slammed into the nearest building, the local punk's forearm pressed firmly against his now quivering neck, the detective prince came to the conclusion that Kanji Tatsumi was not a person he should try to provoke. "Don't you ever talk about ma! D'you understand me?!" Panic began to set in and his cerulean orbs began to mist. But now was not the time for childish tears; he needed to be a big boy right now and face the problem that he had created. "I said, d'you understand me?!" The louder and more terrorizing his voice became the harder the orphaned boy found it was to breathe. Instead he remained frozen, shaking a tremendous amount out of both fear and anger. If only his feet could touch the ground, then he could make a run for it, the police station was only what, a mile off-maybe two? And Kanji was fast but if the suffocating boy was running for his life perhaps he could outrun him; or, at least, outsmart him. The Tatsumi boy wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed if you got what he meant. "Answer me damn it!" It was almost funny, in a way. They had been hanging out like old friends not even twenty minutes ago and now; well, look at what had happened. The petite boy flinched a bit as his vision started to blur. The world started spinning and his fragile skull felt as if a ton of bricks had just fallen on it. A soft gurgle bubbled up from his throat but was quickly silenced by what little bit of his pride remained. Apparently he looked as bad as he felt, for the delinquent's irises contracted in a look that even the detective prince couldn't quite identify. "Oh shit-Naoto!"

As if he had suddenly come to his senses the bleach haired delinquent released the small boy who proceeded to stumble to his knees, gasping for air. The feeling of air rush into his lungs once more was truly heavenly and, if he had a god to pray to, now would have been the time for the cobalt haired boy to thank him or her. "What..." His voice sounded raspy, foreign even to his own ears, but the vertically challenged teenager merely cleared his throat and continued. "…in the hell was that?" The top notch detective considered hauling him in right then and there. Assault of an officer of the law was no minor charge and, with his previous record, it would almost certainly be the straw that broke the camel's back. However, something halted his actions, kept him from whipping out his badge and lecturing the boy on the spot. The look on his companion's face was almost as nauseating as being air deprived had been. Indeed. He was now looking at his own hands and trembling a bit; it was almost as if he too was surprised by his own strength. Those two bright eyes, staring in horror at what the hands in front of them could do. It was truly reminiscent of the insane hero turned villain, the tragic case of a soldier overcome and overwhelmed by ambition, who gazed helplessly at his own blood stained hands. If only he could see, if only he knew, it was so easy to be good if only the textile heir could place a little bit of faith in himself; all of great Neptune's ocean was not needed to wash the blood clean from his hands.

"I'm s-s" How he wanted to apologize, to try to make up for his actions, but the words just would not come out. What had come over him lately? It felt as if he was a completely different person, someone he was not fond of in the slightest. From the moment he woke up this morning he felt more aggressive than usual; perhaps it was the weather, or maybe the fact that he was actually stuck going to school, but either way he threatened three male students and glared spitefully at a dozen or so girls on the way to the brick covered prison. Normally he wasn't so hostile and violent but everything just felt out of whack, as if his body knew something that he himself did not even know-something bad. Part of him wanted to just run and run, get as far away from Inaba as he possibly could, but it was inconceivable. This town was all he had ever knows, and there was no way in hell he would ever leave ma by herself. Still, just what was this strange mixture of fear, anxiety, and anticipation coursing through his veins? And the mysterious tingling sensation he had awoke to in his hands but shrugged off as merely pins and needles; well, it had become a sharp pain the moment he released Naoto. An itchy palm meant that the person would be coming into money. But, just what did a pricking feeling in the thumb mean?

"Hey, are you alright?" The petite boy inquired nervously, his deep hues glancing timidly at the boy who appeared as if he were about to have a psychotic breakdown. Lashing out at him like that, this certainly could not be the same boy from the train ride into Inaba. But it was; and that was the fact that troubled him most of all. Just what was it with this town; first the unexplained murder cases and now the drastic shift in personality of one of its inhabitants. Nothing seemed to make any rational sense around here. It was if the fog had some toxin in the air that was slowly poisoning the citizens, but that was a ridiculous though. There was no such thing as killer fog. Honestly, it would have been more probable for the logical thinker to believe that great Birnam Wood could rise up and storm Dusinane Hill. With a bit of extra effort the boy struggled to his feet and began to dust the dirt off his clothes. Of course a small place like this wouldn't have paved roads, oh no, it just had to bask in the repulsiveness that was soil. "Kanji, I asked if you were okay." He stated once more when the bleach haired delinquent refused to answer him the first time.

"Do me a favor, 'ight? Just get lost. Really kid, I'm nothin' but trouble." For some strange reason the detective prince found himself shaking his head in a way that suggested he disagreed with what had just been said. But that was ludicrous; he had read the boy's case file and knew that the statement was one hundred percent true. With a loud sigh the delinquent rubbed the back of his head and uttered the words he really hadn't wanted the new boy to hear. "Yeah, I am. I do a lotta shit around here and am always fightin' off the cops. I'm a…what's the word." Aberrant? Troublemaker? Rebellious? Criminal? All these words filled the cobalt haired boy's mind but he dared not say any of them aloud. "..uh, punk I guess." He finally concluded with a small mutter of some coarse words which the petite boy figured were not directed at him. "So you're better off without me anyway. Trust me, people 'round here won't be that nice to ya if they see us hangin' out together." At this point it was Naoto's turn to roll his eyes. Did he really look like the sort of person who cared what these nobodies that lived in the outskirts thought about him? No; he was far too graceful and poised for that. The vertically challenged boy was already far superior to any of them so who gave a hoot what they thought? "Maybe if I wasn't so… ya know, rotten, we could hang out again. But it's not like I'm ever gonna change or nothin'."

This had gone on long enough, just when had people started telling him he was a bad person? Why, if he ever found these people they would have some serious explaining to do. It was a proven fact that the more you told someone they were something terrible the more they believed it themselves. Nothing will come of nothing and it appeared that more and more of the Tatsumi boy's actions could be blamed on society; great, just great, more things he needed to fix before he could go home. First the school now they way they treated children, there was no way that he was ever leaving the city again. "This above all: to thine own self be true." The small figure started. How long had he been deceiving himself into thinking that he was a dreadful person? No, it wasn't even thinking anymore, he actually believed those lies they had preached to him. "Kanji, listen to me. Sure you've screwed up a bit in the past but there's still time to make up for it. Everything's not yet written in stone. One man in his time plays many parts!" The boy's voice had risen in both volume and pitch by this point and he physically needed to stop and silence himself. "You can accomplish great things if you put your mind to it. Trust me, I know."

One more the impulsive boy's eyes dropped to the ground and, for once, he didn't have some sort of witty retort. After a short period of time, in which he tried to grasp what the boy who could not just speak normally was trying to say, he gave in with a defeated shrug of the shoulders. "Jesus; why are ya being so nice?" It was strange, being accepted by a peer, being understood, being told that he could so something good with his life. In fact it was almost too much to digest all at once. If the short boy standing before him was girl he might have fallen head over heels in love. What a silly though, Naoto being a girl. Sure he was by no stretch of the imagination manly, but he certainly wasn't in the slightest bit girly either. Well, he would have to give the tough little cookie props, he had done a great job in calming the bleach haired boy down. "I mean-" He continued, lips starting to curl into a somewhat smile. "We're barely even acquaintances."

Before it even registered with the pipsqueak the words were out of his mouth. "You moron, we're not acquaintances, we're friends." After which he considered taking his gun out of its holster and ending his embarrassment right there. But, alas, he had left it at home today. Probably not that grand of an idea with a serial killer running about the unfamiliar town but it was day time and no one had ever seen this murder so he figured he was somewhat safe. However, nothing could protect him from the look he was receiving right now. A both flustered and shocked expression was present on the boy's face- he didn't even seem bothered enough to try to conceal it. Or maybe he still hadn't recovered from the shock yet. If that was the case the pride filled detective prince was not going to stick around until that happened. "And with that I thought you said you were headed home?"

Like an obedient and well trainer dog Kanji had started home without another word. His thoughts were flying at an inconceivably fast rate where as his mouth wouldn't even budge. Friends; the cadet cap wearing boy had said they were friends. Why on earth would he ever say such an outrageous thing? Unless, of course, they were somehow friends. But that couldn't be it, Kanji Tatsumi didn't make anything but enemies. And Naoto, good god, he was about as saintly as they came. Traveling by himself to take care of his sick grandfather, refusing assistance when he had offered up his mother to help look after the old man, stopping by to see the local punk in what little free time he had, and offering up words of wisdom that seemed too powerful to come from such a small person. Someone like that could never have ulterior motives, it just wasn't possible. He would place money on any bet that said the cobalt haired boy had never even had so much as an ill thought towards anyone. How marvelous would it be to have a friend like that in his life? It was just what he-er, ma, had been praying for all these years. The boy with a scar up and to the right of his eye was so deep in pondering this dilemma that he almost didn't notice the group of students standing in front of his house. As he examined them a bit further a nauseating memory came to mind. "Huh…? What're you guys doing here? You're those stupid lovebirds I just saw!" He accused the two students from before.

The girl immediately stamped her foot on the ground and began to yell. "We are not a couple!" As if he really cared whether or not they were actually couple. If they weren't then why had the boy said so earlier? Perhaps they had some sort of a falling out in the last half hour? A lover's quarrel perhaps that could easily be reversed by some cheap ice cream and a trip to Junes? Really now, what couldn't be solved by a quick trip to Junes? It always seemed to make him feel a bit better when he was glum. But that was a thought for a different time and wasn't important right now.

"Why are you assholes followin' me around!? Dammit, what the hell's going on!?" Just what were these kids doing, stalking him? What was their problem anyway? He had never bullied any of them in the past…or at least, not that he could recall. Maybe he had pushed them out of the way in the hall but that wasn't an act to intentionally hurt them. The tall boy just needed to get through the crowded hallways and there were way too many people in that blasted building for him to do so with anything less than tremendous difficult. The boy sighed heavily as he continued with what he had been saying. "I ain't sayin' this is you guys' fault…but dammit!" The second sigh that escaped his lips was quite unintentional and sounded a bit too depressed for his liking. These kids needed to beat it, and fast. His veins had already begun pumping that different feeling blood through his veins and he could sense his self-control beginning to fade quickly. They had no idea what they were in for if they didn't get the hint and take a hike. But the student remained unmoved; fine, if they wouldn't leave on their own he would just have to scare them off. It wasn't that bad if he did it for their own good, right?

xx

Inaba was a small town right? A small rectangle shaped town. So then, why was it that no matter what road the petite prince took he always found himself by Tatsumi Textiles? It was not only distressing but also infuriating. He needed to be home ten minutes ago and he still hadn't been able to find his way out of the shopping district. The striking cobalt hair, worn out cadet cap, and bleak stare that he possessed were what came to people's minds when they thought about the young boy quickly moving his way up in the judicial world. They imagined him to be cool, calm, skillful, poised, and intelligent. But, what they did not imagine was his terrible sense of direction-or lack of. It was really quite embarrassing when he put it in perspective. At thus rate he was going to be stuck having to go into the textile shop to ask for directions or be out here all night. After such a humiliating slip of the tongue there was just no way on earth he could bring himself to do it; he would much rather have to face the unknown mist killer. Alright, so that was not all that great of a name but it was the best he could come up with in these conditions. He was about to turn down yet another side street when, up ahead, he spotted Kanji talking to a group of teenagers. Curiosity got the better of him and he stealthily crept closer, back against a building so that they could not see him.

"Hey, uh…mind if we ask you something?" The voice sounded familiar but it certainly did not belong to Kanji. Oh where had he heard it before? Not at the precinct, it sounded too youthful to come from one of the drones that worked there. There weren't really that many other options; this was his first real time being out in the main section of the rural town. But how many people could there be for him to do a voice analysis with? Not many that was for certain. "Has anything strange happened to you lately?" Anything strange? Well yes actually; he had made a friend for once, skipped rocks like he used to when he was a young child, attacked a boy half the size of himself, and oh yeah his hands were searing with pain for no reason. But these people had no right to know any of that stuff and he did not plan on telling them about it. Speaking of the pricking it now felt as if blood must be streaming from his fingers; but there still was no sight of a wound, not even so much as a scratch.

"Huh? Strange…?" He needed to get them out of here before he lost what little control he had left over his emotions. The last thing he needed right now was to let himself go haywire and just start bashing these annoying prick's' skulls in. He was better than that, he always had been. "What's this "strange" stuff, huh!? Are you saying that I'm strange!?" The louder and more defensive his voice got the more the two girls of the group began to back up. That was a good sign; at least half of this group was smart enough to know that fleeing was always better than trying to fight someone ten times tougher than you. Right now the only person he was curious about was the gray haired boy who had yet to even say a single word. Just what could he be thinking right now? His eyes seemed glazed over, as if he too was attempting to deal with some inner struggle.

" Huh? N-No, I didn't mean~!" The brown haired boy insisted as he too began to back up. Good, just a few more steps now and they would be out of his hair for good. Then he could hurry inside and let out the scream of frustration that was now burning a hole in his throat. Perhaps take some Tylenol or something to try to calm the loud banging in his head. Bang, pause, bang, pause, bang; they were coming steady at regular intervals now. Oh wait, that was just his heartbeat. For chrissake, couldn't anything shut up today? Was it annoy Kanji day and he had just missed the memo? Or at least his mind did, his body seemed to have got it alright. Ugh, this was absolutely killing him. That's it, everyone had a braking point and this was his. With a dark look and booming voice he took a step closer to the four and angrily lashed out an arm.

"You shitheads better get the hell out of my face, or I'm taking you down!" Oh no, Kanji had lost it again. And to think, the boy had honestly believed that he had gotten through to him. But apparently old habits die hard. However, what was a thousand times more interesting was the question the unknown speaker had inquired about. Something strange certainly had happened to the black clad boy, he could testify to that. The question remained, how did they know such a drastic change had occurred? And just what else did they happen to know? This investigation was a dangerous one and that left no room for children such as them to try to get involved. Now he could begin to identify with how the other detectives felt about him, damn. He needed to sway them off of pursuing the matter further, but not without learning everything they knew first. Every piece of evidence, every seemingly insignificant detail, every trace of a theory had to be his. He needed this case far more than any of them could ever hope to understand. He needed to the recognition and admiration to the show the world that anyone could be a great detective no matter who they were.

"-wha--!? Wait, why!?"

"I look like I'm joking!?"

xx

"Aw hell." The bleach haired delinquent muttered angrily as the loud rapping sounded once more throughout the textile store. He was more than preoccupied at the moment, seeing as how he had just downed three or more doses of Advil and was attempting to sleep off whatever the heck was wrong with him; and, although the back door was not all that far away, the task of opening it still seemed incredibly troublesome. Normally he would have hollered upstairs for his mother to answer it; she was a people person after all, but his throat was terribly hoarse. On the other hand, his ears weren't exactly in the mood to listen to any more yelling and he hated the way it vibrated in his head, so it was better not to scream anyway. Figuring that he might as well humor whichever unfortunate delivery man was now attempting to balance his ma's many purchases, the cold eyed boy stopped his inward complain and maneuvered his way through the large, but terribly cluttered, front room. Taking great care not to step on any rows of raven print fabric he had previously spread out along the main step the bullet wearing boy quickened his pace in order to reach the visitor who had once again began his seemingly endless knocking. Why couldn't he just use the easily accessible front door? Honestly, who in their right mind would go down the small alley way and around the back end of the house rather than just coming in from the street? "I'm coming! I'm coming!" His gruff voice yelled at figure standing on the other side of the wooden door which, of course, caused him to break into a coughing frenzy. With a final step, and long overdue sigh of relief, the textile heir reached the door and firmly grasped the knob, an act that soon proved foolish for the glass shattered under the pressure. Thankfully not much damage was done; the only real injury was a miniscule prick on his thumb where a single drop of blood was beginning to rise. How fitting. As he pulled it open the small smile that he had attempted to put on, in order to not frighten the delivery man, turned into one of confusion and then finally panic. "Hey what are you-"

xx

Somewhere on the other side of town the young detective prince shot up in bed, wide eyed and mouth agape. His expression quickly contorted into one of horror and sorrow as a single tear streamed down his cheek. Though he could not place his finger on exactly what was amiss the cobalt haired boy could be certain of one thing. "Something…isn't right."

* * *

**A/N:** So this was sort of dull, and mainly just fluffy and blah, but I wanted to put it in. I mean, why not have some fun before all the trouble starts right? Oh, random, but when I was re-reading this I found six obvious and two sort of obvious Shakespeare references…did anyone else catch them? ;]

**Next Chapter:** I miss you! Without that certain someone with whom he can converse freely the young detective becomes even more withdrawn from the rest of the department. It seems that the very idea of confronting these strange students is the single thing keeping the cobalt haired boy going.


	4. I Miss You

**A/N:** So, in case anyone was wondering, there were eight references not seven and those references were: "by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." –MacBeth, 'a pound of flesh' - the debt Antonio must pay to Shylock in the Merchant of Venice when all his ships sink, "This above all: to thine own self be true…"- Hamlet, "one man in his time plays many parts" – As you like it, the talk about the tragic hero and 'Neptune's oceans'- Macbeth's speech after he kills Duncan, "…Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill…"- part of the second prophecy for Macbeth which he believes impossible however it turns out to be his downfall as will be Naoto not believing that the fog could possibly be evil, "nothing will come of nothing"- King Lear, kanji being hoarse and the raven print fabric were to symbolize the quote "the raven himself is hoarse…"- spoken by Lady Macbeth when she has her soliloquy about killing Duncan and since Kanji was about to walk happily into his demise, like the king, I figured it fit.

Melancolie: thank you so much for your constructive comment. I really should try to use their names more; I'm not sure why I don't. Also, I apologize for the spelling errors; I usually print out my chapters, edit them, then fix them on the computer and upload. However I was a bit pressed for time and skipped the editing on paper part, I'm sorry. And did you like the thumb bit? I stole it from the witches in Macbeth. I love it when he "goes to visit" them a second time, because he's sooo not just crazy by this point or anything.

DemonRaily; Kaip sekasi? Aš nekalbu lietuviškai na, atsiprašau. That's about all I can say. This is such a weird coincidence, part of my family lives in Lithuania; their last name is Ivasca. But anyway, I'm a tad confused as to what you mean by your question? I completed the game last December and the ending of this story will be a bit different than the game, sorry, but I hate writing battle scenes- especially for turn based combat. But I'm trying to stick with the storyline and use actual dialogue as much as possible. I'd go further into detail about where this will end but that would give away everything so, I'm sorry, but I can't fully answer your question.

xHarumi-Chan: thank you so much. You're really too kind. I was afraid that people might not like the fact that I had used actual scenes and such but I'm so glad to be proven wrong.

So that's it, I hope you enjoy this latest installment of All's Fair.

* * *

_Where are you and I'm so sorry  
I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight  
I need somebody and always  
this sick, strange darkness  
comes creeping on so haunting every time_

_-Blink 182_

**I Miss You**

The night had been a barrage of horrifying dreams, all of which involved the boy with whom he had spent the majority of his free time with yesterday. All sorts of scenarios played through his sleeping head; some involved his rebellious friend being kidnapped, others had the bleach haired boy fending off monsters with what appeared to be a fold up chair, and there was even an absurd one about a gigantic man-eating television screen. Sometimes he liked to believe that there were messages concealed in dreams and he was certain that this was such a case. In fact, he already knew what the nightmares were trying to tell him! They wanted the cobalt haired detective prince to realize that he really needed to start listening to Yakushiji's advice and lay off the sweets before bed. It was for the best after all; no matter how many times he brushed or flossed his perfectly white teeth a thin filmy layer of sugar would still remain; corroding the bones in his mouth until they were disgusting and disturbing mounds of holey gingivitis. Was there anything more horrifying than bad dental hygiene? The petite boy thought not.

Deep hues glancing once more at his trusted cell phone, the Shirogane child began to wonder just where his troublemaker friend could be. Since the cadet cap wearing boy had lost a bet the previous day, the two had agreed to meet at the bottom of the flood plains at the same time as yesterday to commence in their skipping of stones. But school had been let out over an hour ago considering Thursday, May nineteenth, was by no means a holiday. So then, why was there still no sign of the black clad boy? Though they had only made plans once before, Naoto got the impression that the textile shop heir was not the type to go breaking his word. What if something bad had happened on Kanji's way to meet him? What if he had gotten arrested again for some petty criminal act? But no, the vertically challenged teenager had a new found faith in the boy's character. Sure he had been off a tad the day before but something deep down told him that it was not Kanji's fault. Perhaps he had simply forgotten and went straight home after class. Yes; that had to be it. Without a second thought he turned and headed off towards the boy's house and family's store.

As he approached the quaint building the boy took a moment to relish in the homelike atmosphere that surrounded it. It was just so charming, indeed he found himself a bit bitter at why life had deprived him of such a sweet and modest dwelling. People always seem to think that the more money you have the happier you are; they're wrong, dead wrong. The currency is merely used to pay of nannies to watch the children, and buy expensive corvettes that end up doing nothing for their passengers during a crash. Only one thing did the petite boy find intimidating; as a small gust of May wind blew by the detective prince, and rustled a wind chime located outside of the shop, a dark feeling crept down his neck and sent a shiver down his spine. But the uncertainty was washed away almost instantaneously by a feminine figure up ahead. There, in a long green kimono that she had most likely made herself, stood the owner of the store, gently sweeping some dust out the door. Though they had only spoken once the cobalt haired boy wanted to hurry over and speak with her; but that was wrong, she was someone else's mother after all and, no matter how he wished and longed for such a person, the teenager had to accept the harsh fact that he would never again have a maternal figure in his life.

"Oh, why hello again." The ageing woman replied in a friendly tone that the inquisitive boy soon deduced to be completely fake and forced. What could possibly be troubling her on this glorious fogless day? The boy's stomach dropped when the terrible realization hit him. Had the heir of the store been home he never would have let the woman do such a trivial task such as sweeping. Judging from how upset the delinquent got at the mere mention of his 'ma' he would be out there cleaning the steps and glaring at anyone who dared comment on it. But here she was instead; Kanji wasn't home, was he? The petite boy's small form began to fidget nervously and his eyes stung a bit for some unknown reason. He could not really be about to cry, could he? So the boy was out, there was nothing to indicate that he was in any real danger. And kanji could more than take care of himself, he was a toughened rebel who would never surrender a fight until he was nothing more than a bloody mess- and even then he would persist for a few more minutes before finally collapsing. But in that time he would have made enough of a ruckus for people to hear and since no disturbance alerts had gone out the previous night, and there were no new records in the precinct today, one could safely assume that the boy had not gotten into any serious trouble.

"Greetings ma'am." Naoto replied with a formal tip of the hat. Though he was not a real detective just yet there was no harm in mimicking the actions of the local law enforcement, was there? "I was wondering if your son might be home." At that the woman straightened up and looked sharply at the cobalt haired boy. He could just tell what she was thinking; who was he to keep showing up and pestering her son? Perhaps if he merely explained that he was not with the police that would get her to, oh wait, he was with the police, damn. Deep oceanic hues dropping to the ground, a faint flushed tint plagued the boy's delicate features. "We sort of had plans. We were going to meet at the flood plains to skip rocks." The Detective Prince admitted sheepishly, playing with his fingers a bit out of nerves. With the mention of skipping stones in the river the woman's hostile features deteriorated into a mix of sorrow and pain filled happiness. For a moment the cadet cap wearing teenager thought he might have said the wrong thing but, rather, the woman rested the wooden broom against one of the building's front outdoor support beams. Two steps later she had her arms around the vertically challenged boy in a light hug. "M-Ma'am!?"

"I'm sorry." Her gentle voice whispered into the boy's ear as she released his fragile figure and dabbed her eyes lightly with the hem of her kimono. "It's just…good to hear is all. You see, my little Kanji-kun has a terrible habit of getting himself into all sorts of trouble." Naoto merely nodded, still frozen in shock by the sudden display of affection. But yes, that did seem to be a nasty 'habit', although he was quickly turning it into a livelihood. "You see, ever since his father passed on my darling son has not been the same. He's changed completely…and I'm not sure what I should do." Her misty eyes flooded once more as she looked at the blue clad boy standing mere inches away from her. "But your parents must have done something right. You seem like such a very good boy. Please, try to let some of that self-control rub off on my child." His parents had raised him correctly? If only the woman knew how wrong she was. They were rarely home for the short time frame that he actually had them in his life, so there were no real opportunities for them to teach him anything. All the proper formalities and reserved stature came from reading old detective novels and trying to imitate what the main characters did.

He merely nodded though, in an attempt to put the woman's mind at ease, and took a small step backwards. It was not intentional, but simply instinctual at this point. He had never been much for public displays of affection, not to mention that Naoto was terribly embarrassed upon his realization that a few people who were walking by had stopped to stare curiously at the two. "I'm terribly sorry but, last night, while I was upstairs finishing some stitching on a wedding gown, Kanji must have gone out. I assume it was in a rush as well, considering I came downstairs to find our back door knob shattered on the floor." The woman's face tightened for a moment, as if she too saw the problem with what she had just said. Certainly he seemed like the type that would storm out on a moment's notice but leaving broken glass for his mother to deal with? That seemed entirely out of character. Just what could possibly have been going on in the boy's mind to cause him to leave like that? Unless, of course, he did not leave by his own accord…

Clearing his throat a bit to draw the lady's attention away from her own thoughts, and back to himself, the Detective Prince placed his hands firmly and attentively against by his sides. "Miss Tatsumi, might you have any idea as to where I could search for your son?" She was his mother; surely she would have to know where Kanji chose to spend his free time. But, then again, if the boy had not desired to leave in the first place than the chances of him being there now were quite slim. However, one could not give up hope before the search had even commenced. And, even if he had been searching for months with no avail, something deep down told the boy that he would never so much as dream of giving up. How uncharacteristic; true he loved working with cold cases but those benefited him in the long run while this endeavor would not. But who else did the punk have to search, his mother who was preoccupied with sweeping? He was completely and utterly alone and, as much as the established Naoto hated to admit it, he was on his own as well. The woman shook her head a bit, then turned away and return to her task. From what the detective in the making could piece together she was most likely silently crying. The thought alone was enough to make his heart ache and he longed to pat her on the shoulder, but, instead, he turned as well so that they were back to back. "Thank you for your time."

xx

For some unknown reason the cadet cap wearing boy found himself running full speed through the shopping district. He was not sure where he was going but, apparently, running was the only way to get there. Where would a teenager possibly go in this dull little town? It was not as if there was an arcade, club, or amusement park. There was absolutely nothing that anyone would take any interest in. Come to think of it, he was almost surprised that more people were not skipping rocks, for it seemed like the only worthwhile way to pass time. The girls had to skip rocks as well because he had just run past the stores and there were no good places to shop-shop, that was it! The boy screeched to a halt, defiantly ruining the treds of his new loafers that grandfather had bought him as a 'welcome to Inaba' present. If there was one place in town that could provide some form of enjoyment it had to be that store everyone was always talking about. From what he had overheard it sold everything from televisions, to kotatsus, to cabbages. The latter of which seemed to be on sale quite often because a person could never have too many cabbages.

Racing through the rotating doors Naoto froze in place and took a moment to get a handle on the situation. Say he found Kanji, what would he say to him? 'Oh, why hello there. I was just running all over town looking for you because you missed our rock skipping session. I assumed that you had been mercilessly slaughtered and that your remains would turn up on the evening news. Oh, and did I mention that I had a tearful meeting with your mother? Yes we discussed you needing to take social lessons from me.' That would certainly go over big. If luck was on his side he might be able to walk away unscathed. But it was more than likely the delinquent would break his face before he could even attempt to flee the scene. It might be better to come up with a cover story in case he found the boy. What could he say? That his grandfather needed him to pick up some hot chicken noodle soup because he was feeling even worse than usual? It might pass, but only if he was convincing in acting surprised when he saw his friend. He would have to walk by the desired asile, double take, then ever so casually stroll down and strike up a conversation. Good heavens, it sounded as though he was planning on impressing someone he cared about romantically rather than trying to talk to someone he had only recently met. Just what was going on inside that little blue head of his?

However, before he could properly search the store for Kanji a gray figure not too far off caught his eye. It had to be the boy from before, who else had silver colored hair at such a young age? And, as much as he desired to find the Tatsumi boy something held his feet firmly in place. There was a murder mystery at hand and he could not simply dismiss that fact. If he could not solve this case than there was no reason for him to have come to Inaba in the first place. So what if he had discovered a new reason to stay, his initial agenda had to be first and foremost. People's lives were at stake and, if the textile heir was the sort of person the petite prince believed him to be, he would understand. So, positioning himself so that his eyes were facing the outdoor lunch tables, Naoto pretended not to see the boy approach the building and enter through the glass doors. He figured that he would act as the boy's shadow and see just what he was up to. But fate had other plans it seemed for, with a brief hesitation, the male student approached him with a formal greeting.

At first he was a bit shook by the sudden confrontation. Surely the gray boy had to know that he associated with the missing delinquent. Just the other day this poised boy was talking with the tightly wound brunette couple who had been harassing Kanji. Perhaps it would be wise to watch what he said to this newcomer."…Is there something you need?" There was no use in returning the greeting, he did not bother with pointless chit chat and was not about to start faking it now. " Many people from the town come and meet here. It's a very convenient location, isn't it…?" Now he had been attempting to sound a bit naïve but that sounded downright defensive. No matter, if pressed on the matter he could always claim that he did not like to be disturbed when he was thinking. That was perfectly reasonable and completely justifiable. But the boy did not press the matter however; he only smiled and offered up an almost understanding look. He wanted Naoto to let down his guard, that had to be it, but nothing of the sort was ever going to happen. Especially not around someone who was likely to be involved in these mysterious cases.

The boy's voice was surprisingly relaxed as he stuck a hand slightly in one of his pants' pockets and motioned with the other. "I understand you are friends with Kanji Tatsumi." There was no accusation there, merely the display of a common fact. "He was not in school today and well, we're a bit worried." That last bit hit a nerve and the calm boy had to work to keep the bitterness he was feeling from displaying itself on his face. Look at him, talking as if they were his friends, what nonsense. "I just went to see his mother, in case he was home sick with the flu or something, but she told me to come find you." Though there were no tell tale signs that the boy was lying the Detective Prince was certain that this boy was attempting to deceive him. There was no way any normal student would have gone looking for the boy, and how did he know to come to Junes? He had not released his destination to Mrs. Tatsumi. Something just did not sit right; was the gray haired boy asking around town as to where he could find the detective? "But, if could ask you something a bit more personal; was anything different about him yesterday? By that I mean was there anything that seemed particularly peculiar about him the last time you spoke?"

Mistake number one; this boy came with the objective of locating Kanji, but not once had he even inquired as to if Naoto had found him. It was almost as if the student knew that he had not…"You're asking if anything seemed strange when I talked to Kanji-kun, yes…? Hmm. Very well. It seems to be an urgent matter, so I'll simply tell you." Oh yes, he would reply all right, but if this nameless boy thought he would receive the truth than he had another thing coming. "If you're asking about recent events, then yes, there was something out the ordinary. It was something I felt when I was with him… So I told him outright that he seemed to be an odd person. After I said that, his expression changed all of a sudden… I was quite surprised. On that basis, I believe his actions were somewhat forced and unnatural, throughout the time I was with him. He may have some sort of complex… though I have no proof of this." The boy's eyes lit up at this and he nearly tripped over himself as he thanked the cadet cap wearing boy and hurried into the outdoor section. From what Naoto could tell there were the same three students as before waiting for him in a sort of powwow formation. They discussed something he could not exactly hear and hurried into the main part of the store through another doorway. Taking great care in keeping his footsteps light the top notch sleuth scurried after them and entered the large store just in time to hear a girl's exited voice ring out in an aisle a few over.

"Come on you guys! We have to go tell Teddie!"

xx

"A…A man's got this thing called pride. I'll never lose." Hands clenched forcefully to the sides of his head the bleach haired delinquent repeated that single line over and over, begging himself to believe in its truth. Just what was going on? His icy orbs were shut tightly, for the Tatsumi boy had looked around once before and refused to do such a horrid act again. All around him was a thick mist or steam, most likely caused by the unholy temperature this place was exhibiting. Jesus, what kind of weird nightmare was this and why couldn't he wake himself up? By this point he had tried pinching himself, assuring his mind that it was only a mere dream that could never contain the most feared delinquent in all of Inaba, and even biting his own tongue until it bled. Safe to say none of the above worked. With a reluctant sigh he cracked open a single eye and scanned the area once more. Unfortunately the wall of steam made it nearly impossible to decipher his whereabouts; but it wasn't like there was a map in the upper right corner of his line of vision so seeing would not have really helped all that much.

So, blinded by the boiling moist air, the rebellious teenager stumbled through the mist, hands out in front of his body to avoid any accidental collisions. After a few cautious steps his fingertips brushed against a firm yet damp substance that he automatically identified as wood; after all, it felt just like the shop after a light spring shower. Palms pressed gently against the surface, testing how strong it was, the boy found that it was far less sturdy than he had originally assumed. One good shove and it would definitely go down. "A'ight, here goes nothin'." Twisting slightly so that his right side was aimed at the wood the black clad boy slammed all of his weight into the structure which easily gave way, causing the delinquent to collapse through the now gaping hole where he landed with a sickening crack. "Ah, shit!" Icy hues trembled slightly as he noted that his foot was bent at a terribly irregular angle. Well that was wonderful, simply wonderful. What incredible luck he must have. Alice stumbled down the rabbit hole once too and you never saw her on crutches. As he was pondering just how ridiculous this whole ordeal was a chilling muffled laugh flooded the room and rang throughout his hears. "H-hello?" So he wasn't alone in Wonderland…but was that a sign of a light at the end of this steamy tunnel or, rather, was it the harbinger of an inevitable termination?

By now a whole mess of blurred voices had made their way behind him and, as tough as he liked people to believe that he was, the bleach haired boy did not plan on sticking around to see just what made its way out of the fog. So, using mainly his upper body strength, the Tatsumi boy headed off in the direction of the sinister laughter. As bone chilling as it might be the fact remained that it had only come from one source and, if he was going to get into a fight in this foreign and outlandish place, then he would rather fight one person as opposed to a small group. With each step he took the temperature only intensified until a dehydrated Kanji felt as if he might pass out. His lungs got heavier, his motions became sluggish, and the searing pain radiating from his ankle only succeeded in producing a splitting headache. Just when he felt himself in danger of collapsing from both fatigue and mental exhaustion a hand reached out of the mist and grabbed his arm. At first a mix of horror and surprise overtook his face but, as the hand seemed to help steady him and push his trembling form ever forward, the boy relaxed a bit."Naoto?"

xx

This was positively infuriating! Just where had those foolish children run off to now? The petite Detective Prince had been wandering through Junes for the past two hours and there had been no sign of the gray haired boy and his comrades. It was never wise to trail your prey too closely for they might get wise; likewise, it was never clever for an officer of the law to stray too far behind. But all they had done was walk inside for chrissake! What nonsense was this now? He had been no more than two rows over from the students when they entered the electronics section. Or, at least, he thought that they had- but there was no sign of them when he turned down the aisle mere moments later. It was if there was some secret doorway hidden in one of the televisions. But that was simply preposterous. If there was going to be a hidden entrance it would be in the book section, obviously. Glaring down the hardware aisle a final time the cobalt haired boy ripped the cadet cap off his head and thrust it to the ground with an exasperated sigh. "What the heck Kanji!"

"N-Naoto?" An absent minded voice piped up and the Detective Prince wheeled around to see the most disheveled member of the entire police force. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your dilemma." The boy hastily picked up his cadet cap and tried to regain his cool composure. Never before had he conversed with Thoru Adachi, Adachi as he had heard the young man called by his coworkers, and this was certainly not the foot that he wanted to get off on. Thankfully this man's bed hair and loosened tie told the inquisitive boy that he was no real threat to his prized reputation. "Perhaps he's already home. I'm sure that if you check with him mother you'll be sure to find him. A teenager can only stay out for so long." The man's oblivious smile was both calming and unnerving. Good heavens, if this was the type of person Inaba had defending it then no wonder a serial killer was running rampant. One question illuminated the boy's mind however, just how did Adachi know that Kanji was missing? What he had said gave no preface to that fact. But Adachi was with the police force, perhaps Mrs. Tatsumi had reported him missing. Either way the man did have a point, Kanji had to go home at sometime and, although it was still only late afternoon, Naoto figured that he would head back there anyway.

xx

"Admit it, you like him more than you let on." In front of the heir to the textile store stood what could have easily been his twin if not for the fact that Kanji was an only child. The initial shock of such a person existing was what kept the bullet wearing boy from turning on his heels and getting not only out of that room but out of that place in general. When the hand had retracted he continued to follow, oh why did he do that? It seemed so silly now, he should have sensed there was something wrong about this place but had allowed himself to be led by what? Some foolish hope that someone had come to rescue him? He wasn't some princess in distress or any shit like that. But, it would still be sort of nice to not always have to rely on his own brute strength to get him out of every predicament. That wasn't important however, what was imperative was the horrifying fact that the double before him was wearing nothing more than a small cloth. Every time Kanji allowed his orbs to catch the figure standing on a small rise above him he nearly died from embarrassment. The only thing keeping him from not passing out where he stood, or simply beating the living crud out of this guy, was the fact that they were the only two around.

"I-I…" The bleach haired boy stuttered as he kept his eyes focused on the floor- or, at least, what little bit of it could be seen through the steam. 'Him'; by that this wannabe must be referring to Naoto, he had to be. That kid was the only one who he actually sort of enjoyed the company of. It was so peculiar, they had only just met and already he wanted to spend all his free time with the newcomer. No, that wasn't peculiar at all, he was just giving the boy a friendly welcome to Inaba. And so what if maybe he could identify with having an ill family member, or if he wanted to help the petite boy anyway he could. There was no deeper reason for his actions. Hell, it wasn't as if he loved to see the small boy smile, or couldn't seem to go a day without hearing that songbird like laugh he possessed. That certainly was not it, not in the slightest. He did not have anything that even slightly resembled feelings for the boy that were more than friendly. And not even friendly, they were more like acquaintances at this point and, after what had occurred what he assumed to be the previous day by now, he doubted that they were even that.

The person before the delinquent merely laughed mockingly at Kanji's pathetic attempt to defend himself. "Oh come now, enough with the charade. Isn't it awful to deceive people? To deceive yourself…? What's so bad about doing what I want to do?" The truthful yet sarcastic tone in the inhabitant of this strange land's voice was enough to make his blood boil. What blasphemy was he running his mouth off about now? He wasn't deceiving anyone; there was no way that he liked that little squirt. For starters he was into girls, and ones with long hair and large breasts at that; exactly the type that every other normal male enjoyed. Yes, they were definitely his first choice, not some scrawny little boy with short locks that were blue of all colors. Could that possibly be natural? Not that he really had a right to be talking but god, now he was curious. The smart aleck certainly did not seem like the kind that would go to a stylist to have them color it such an absurd color. But, then again, who had ever seen a person with blue hair? Surely people had to have questioned it before, right? Had no one else paid enough attention to realize that the boy's hair was blue, blue! That just wasn't right; it definitely could not be hereditary. If he ever made it out of here the puzzled boy would have to find Naoto's grandfather and compare hair colors.

The boy's fists tightened to the point that his knuckles were ghostly white, and his digits were a deep crimson, as he tried to conceal the fury that was quickly building within him. There was no way that what this guy was saying had anything to do with what he really wanted. This was all just a bad dream full of complete and utter nonsense. That was it…it had to be. Releasing a stored breath the troublemaker stared at the fist he had made. "That has nothin' to do with it…" He could do whatever he wanted any time he chose. He was Kanji Tatsumi after all and, around Inaba, that name struck fear into the hearts of many. Nothing could ever hold him back, especially not some child he had just met. Hell, they had only officially hung out once, and that turned out to be an absolute disaster. His way of life had been working out fine all these years so why should he bother changing now. It wasn't as if this was all just some game and he was going to be pulled into a battle between good and evil, then decide that he really was a kind soul and help the forces of light. No, this was not a video game, this was real life, and, therefore, he would never change his rebellious ways.

A twisted smile worked its way onto his look-alike's face and he even went as far as to try to sound gentle. As if he was attempting to urge Kanji closer to an unspoken truth. From his positioning and integrity threatening pose the double looked down upon the Tatsumi boy as if he was a mere child. Something wasn't right here; he wasn't looking at the black clad boy at all. With a small twist of the head Kanji used his peripherals to scan the rest of the room. Not all that far behind them stood the four students he had scolded the previous day for stalking him. At first he was overcome with disbelief. How had they gotten here? And did they know the way out? They had to right, how could they wander around aimlessly without knowing the way back? That would just be idiotic and, as much as he hated to admit it, they did not look like complete morons. As he tried to get a grip on how they could possibly lead him out of this place a terrifying after thought enveloped is fragile mind. They had to see his basically naked, and quite flamboyant, clone as well. Although he was not sure how long they had been watching, if the double did not say anything more than he could just deny any real affiliation. "I'm what you really want, aren't I?"

His mouth dropped open and his pupils contracted to the point of invisibility. Oh no, these teenagers could not hear something like that. On the rare days that he attended school he went to it with them. There was always a chance that they might see one another in the halls, or that, by the time he ever returned to the real world, a nasty rumor would already have spread about him. Then even the undersized loner would avoid him as if he were some sort of leper. He had to put an end to this now before any of these people got the wrong idea. Swinging a tightly clenched fist out and forward he made a warning gesture. "Hell no!" There was no way that he ever wanted to become something like that. Not even if this clone seemed to be happier than he was. Everything was nice, not great or wonderful, but nice and he could live with that. Content always beat out extraordinary because, to achieve extraordinary status, a person had to risk everything and could possibly end up with sorrow. It was a thousand times safer to just stay where you were and not question things.

"Ohh, how I hate girls… So arrogant and self-centered! They cry if you get angry, they gossip behind your back, they spread nasty lies… They look at me like some… some disgusting THING and say that I'm a weirdo…" He needed to shut this guy up, to deny everything that was being said; and quickly, before these students wised up to just what his clone was insinuating. But, as he opened his mouth to protest, not a single sound came out. As much as he needed to halt the other boy's words something was preventing him, something that burned deep down and made the tough boy feel like weeping. But his look-alike only seemed to feed off of Kanji's misery for he continued onward with twice the force as before. "Laughing at me, all the while! "You like to sew?" "What a queer!" "Painting is so not you." "But you're a guy…" "You don't act like a guy…" "Why aren't you manly…?" What does it mean to be "a guy"? What does it mean to be "manly"? Girls are so scary…" That wasn't true, it just couldn't be, nothing scared him, especially not frilly little pink loving jerks.

Mustering up what little bit of courage was left the Tatsumi boy created the most threatening look he had ever worn. His deep voice rang out through the sauna like room as he took a step dangerously close to the scandalously dressed double. "I-I ain't scared of 'em!" By this point he was unsure about whether he wanted desperately to turn and flee, fight to the death, or simply vomit. The first one was out though considering he would have to run past the group of students behind him. There was no way that he could let them see this horrible, downright insane, sight then just breeze past them like some scared little puppy. And the third choice was just as disgraceful. If he wanted to save what little bit of his reputation remained it looked as though he was going to have to battle it out. But oh, how he longed for there to be another way out. He was just so tired, both emotionally and physically. It seemed as though it would be so easy to merely give up, to watch his world collapse around him, and then create something new from the rubble; something beautiful, something…not so lonely.

Clasping his hands together the duplicate puckered his lips as a flushed tone enveloped his face. "Men are much better… They'd never say those awful, degrading things. Yes, I vastly prefer men…" This was all too much, what sort of sick and twisted dream was this? What had he possibly done to deserve this? Well, recently, he had done plenty of terrible stuff in the past but the last few days he had kept his nose clean for the most part. He just needed to wake himself up. Ya, that would definitely work. Pearly white teeth clamped down sharply on the inside of his cheek and a killer sensation erupted in his skull. Crimson liquid seeped onto his tongue and a metallic taste coated his lips. Whether he was more upset about the fact that he did not wake up or about the frightening truth that this was reality was still unclear. Either way he felt like sinking to his knees and sobbing until the overwhelming misery had left his shaking form. Friends, they would make this whole situation easier, but still- there was no way in hell that he would want Naoto in such a terrible place. Indeed, that would only increase the awkwardness of the situation. Four pairs of eyes were burning their way into the back of the bleach haired boy's cranium and he figured that a verbal response would be appropriate.

'Although a tear may be ever so near, that's the time you must keep on trying, smile, what's the use of crying', those were that stupid song's lyrics right? That annoying song that Ma always used to quote whenever she missed his dad, it both angered and saddened him that it was the first thing that came to mind. Well he definitely was not about to smile but he certainly could get angry. That had always been his specialty and fighting through the pain was so much easier than dealing with it. So he retracted any tears that might have been welling in his eyes and, instead, used his fists to threaten the replica. "Hell with that! What makes you think you can say that shit with my face…!?" This was all so crazy, what on earth was going on here? And where was here for that matter? Ugh, this was all so fanatical, like some horrid nightmare except he was not in his underwear. Oh wait, his replica was, and that probably counted for something. Damn it all, why couldn't he just wake up and go skip some stones with his new friend? Why was this happening?

Taking a step towards Kanji the clone offered a warm and compassionate glance. "Why," He began, a sly smile flickering across his pursed lips. "You're me… and I'm you…" The space between the two of them seemed to decrease drastically at that statement and the real Tatsumi boy felt his head growing heavy. He was lying, he had to be. Sure they wore the same face and had identical appearances and vocals but they were two totally different people. He was the only Kanji Tatsumi there was, and the only one there would ever be. This all had to be some figment of his imagination, some sick joke played by his subconscious. "You do know that, don't you…?" His mind was running at an alarmingly fast pace; this couldn't be him, he did not have those type of thoughts. Sure he wanted to hang out with more male students but that was just his desire to be accepted. He wasn't into guys; he couldn't care less about them. Well, that was not entirely true. No matter how much he wanted to believe it a cobalt haired silhouette in the back of his mind told him he really thought otherwise.

But he certainly did not have feelings for the city dweller. It was only natural for him to want to spend time with an acquaintance, to want to make them happy, and to need to be their source of comfort. It did not matter than Naoto was a guy, he would want to be around him just as much if he was a girl. Honestly, there was no way that he was gay. Tough men that struck fear into the hearts of people did not have relationships with other men! Especially not tightly wound pipsqueaks like the Shirogane boy. "No…Nuh-uh! No way! There's no way in hell that you're me!" His voice's pitch was frighteningly high and, had there been any glass nearby, one could be sure than it would have shattered. His uncertainty was impossible to hide and his skull felt as if it were splitting right down the middle. Just who was he really? Was everything as his replica said? Was that really what he wanted? Would he be happier if, god forbid, he was free to walk down the streets of Inaba with Naoto's delicate hand clasped firmly in his? This was maddening; he just didn't know anymore! Nothing made sense!

A thunderous chuckle burst from the clone's throat and shrouded the small room in a dark aura. "Teeheehee… you're me, and there's no denying it!" Black light veiled the replica and his eyes took on a new, more dreadful, state. The pupils were lost in a sea of glowing amber, and a possessed sort of state seemed to be taking over. From all over the small wooden room steam poured into the center and began to swirl around his look-alike in a threatening manner. The closer it got to the beast the darker it became until nothing could be seen, minus a few bright flames that were scattered about. In an earth shaking moment Kanji could have sworn that he saw a bed of roses before the darkness burst outward and overtook him.

"Kanji-kun!"

xx

The rebellious boy stumbled a bit as he proceeded down the dark road to his family's textile shop. His head was still pounding from the events that had just transpired and his body ached all over. At a time like this he wanted nothing more than to just collapse on his bed and sleep for a day or two. Using a hand to steady himself the teen rested for a moment against one of the store's support beams. As Kanji proceeded forward his clumsy feet nearly tripped over a tiny form. His eyes widened a bit, then softened when he noticed the dark locks shrouding a frail face. In the boy's small hands lay a brown paperback novel that he appeared to have been intently reading before he fell asleep. With a light smile the most feared delinquent in town picked up the child sized boy and positioned him in his arms much like a father, who was carrying his precious son to bed, would. The cobalt haired boy's eyes fluttered open for a moment and he gazed sleepily up at the tall boy. "Hey there kiddo, been a while. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

* * *

**A/N:** So that's all for now. I hope that you liked it. I know I skipped a large chunk of time at the end but it did not seem all that important to the story line, and I assume you all know what happens anyway. But I deeply apologize if anyone thinks otherwise. Remember, reviews are always appreciated, I love hearing what you think of my writing be it good or bad. Well, not if it's really bad, I'm a bit of a fragile person. Also, I'm sorry if I didn't write a response to your review, I'll try to next time.

**Next Chapter:** I'm not that girl! Just who was this Kanji character to walk into, out of, and back into the Detective Prince's life so unexpectedly and turn it all upside-down each time? This was crazy, the cobalt haired boy just needed some time by himself to clear his head and attempt to get back to work. But just how on earth was that supposed to be possible when the bleach haired teenager kept showing up wherever he went?


	5. I'm Not That Girl

**A/N:** So how are you all? I hope you're getting excited for Valentine's Day this month! I know I am; it's my half birthday so, six months from the fourteenth I'll be able to vote! I'm so excited hahaha. Well I want to apologize for the delay in chapter four, and then when it came it was terrible. I had midyears and they required just about all of my free time and, to be truthfully honest, I just threw stuff together and called it a chapter. It was in no way shape or form my best work and you readers deserve the best, so I'm really sorry. But, to make up for it, I shall try to post chapter six on Valentine's Day at the latest…that's like three days away… yay upcoming deadline!

Kisdota: I do believe the standard for a basis paragraph is five sentences. I space it out according to when one thought ends and the next begins. Did you really have trouble telling who was speaking in chapter four? Really? In the first section it was basically only Naoto, minus a few lines from Mrs. Tatsumi, and the second section was all Kanji. I thought it was quite simple… but, you know, it could be worse; I could write in all capital letters. So I'm sorry that you don't like it but I'm not changing the way I write and making mini-paragraphs.

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_Don't dream too far  
Don't lose sight of who you are  
Don't remember that rush of joy  
He could be that boy  
I'm not that girl_

_-Idina Menzel "Wicked"_

**I'm Not That Girl**

Now Naoto had never been one to mess around in underage drinking but, from the state of his spinning head, slurred speech, and cramped body, his grandfather seemed to think otherwise. So the drowsy boy had been confined to his room; all because he was so set on staying out to wait for his missing friend. Well that certainly would never happen again. Honestly, he had worked so hard at being the proper and polite grandchild the old gentleman wanted. How on earth could his gray haired guardian even consider the possibility that he had been out all night drinking? Of course this entire situation could most likely have been avoided had he not allowed the bleach haired delinquent to bring him home. Being dropped off at three in the morning by the local punk, who felt the need to bring some humor to the situation by telling Yakushiji that Naoto had partied a bit too hard, was not exactly something good children-err young adults did. With a loud and obviously displeased sigh the Detective Prince considered slamming his head against the wall for the third time; but a small red bump now forming on his temple showed that it was not that clever of an idea.

Alright, so he could see where grandfather was coming from; but that was three hours into the twentieth of May! It was now June sixth and he had still not been allowed out of his cream colored, almost babyish, room. Seventeen days in captivity, good lord! What did the department think of him now? Sure grandfather had allowed Naoto to retain some dignity by saying that the young prince was dreadfully ill and confined to bed rest, but now he just looked like a weakling. The cobalt haired boy could almost hear his co-workers spiteful comments and cruel laughter. But no, he would not give them anything more to mock; today he was going to make his great escape. He had been plotting it for a while now and since it was a Monday his grandfather would be out shopping with Yakushiji. The only things standing in his way now were the maids and groundskeepers. Thankfully he had devised a plan for dealing with them as well. The young woman who his guardian employed were easy enough to fool, though he did feel a tad guilty for deceiving them, and the older men outside loved to nap in the summer sun.

To get the indoor servants away from windows and door the young boy needed to sacrifice one of his favorite stuffed bears from when he was a child. But that was fine; adults did not need silly reminders of their innocence, so good riddance. Using a screw driver that he had on his work table the boy removed a small charcoal box from within the fluff. When pressed it sang You Are My Sunshine and just hearing it once more brought a smile to his tightly locked lips, how foolish. He was so glad to be getting rid of something so juvenile; though the Shirogane boy did feel the need to hug Mr. Watson once more before he threw the remains under his wooden queen sized bed. The hardware inside the vocal box was pretty easy to edit and recording over it was a breeze. What he had to say was easy enough, though it was more than a little degrading. He worked so hard on polishing his tough exterior that this could ruin him. But, if he stayed locked up and out of work much longer, it would definitely ruin him. So, as he was sneaking out, the woman of the estate would be listening to about ten minutes worth of a boy whimpering regrets and sobbing about how he desperately wanted to hold his parents again.

In order to misdirect the outdoor staff he had to get a bit more technical. Everything electronic on the grounds, and within the dwelling itself, was monitored closely on his grandfather's computer and could only be accessed by typing in Yakushiji's password. As the main caretaker he was given basically free range to do whatever he pleased so that the Shirogane household was always running smoothly. The middle aged man took such great pride in that fact that he was constantly strutting around the complex monitoring all the other employees' work. But, on Mondays, he would accompany grandfather on his weekly 'shopping trips'. Where the two really went was still a mystery to the cobalt haired boy for he never saw them return with any purchases. If anything they merely went for a walk around Inaba to keep the elderly man's blood pumping. No matter, he would still take advantage of the situation. Hacking had always seemed terribly juvenile, he did not even want to learn how one was to accomplish that breaking firewalls nonsense. But, with the drastic increase in cyber crime- such as the stealing of credit card information and etc.- the department had pressured him into mastering a few techniques. It was almost alarming how little time it took for the codes, produced on his small laptop, to crack any security that his home might have possessed. That just meant that when he rebuilt the defenses the boy would have to make them twice as strong. However that was work for another day. His objective at the moment was the sabotage of the sprinkler system's timer.

Every morning at four on the dot twenty seven sprinklers exactly shot up and watered the lawn. They repeated this same action at four in the afternoon daily as well; well, almost daily. The other three-hundred and sixty four days of the year they would but today the watering system would pop back up at six in the morning, go off for five minutes, then pop back up again until seven. He figured that it would cause reasonable enough panic so that he would have a chance to slip down from his third floor room without anyone noticing. While all the workers were scurrying about to find a way to stop the problem he could use the terribly cliché blanket rope he had constructed to scale the white wash walls. Oh it was so positively Sherlock Holmes; he could barely wait the nine minutes his clock said were left before the fun started. If this really worked, scratch that, when this did work he would have to tell someone about it later in life. A story this fanciful has to be shared; it would be such a waste for it to merely rot in his memory.

With a final glance in the mirror the Detective Prince nodded his head approvingly. The navy petticoat, laced up blouse, and plaid dress pants made him look quite official if he dared be so arrogant. Now if only he had a sidekick, then everything would be truly marvelous! Unfortunately he did not, so the troublesome task of placing the stuffed bear by the door and pressing the talk button were all his. The moment his fingers left the switch a loud and painful sob exploded from the creature and even Naoto was taken aback by how loud and feminine he sounded. Perhaps he should have rewired the volume controls as well; but at least there was no chance of the maids not hearing. Indeed, as he turned to the window the echo of dozens of pairs of saddle shoes running down the hall sounded throughout the mansion. Wonderful; how positively wonderful. It was simply music to his ears. Outside the chaos had already begun it appeared for a chorus of terribly inappropriate phrases rose from the ground as men, now drenched with icy ground water, hurried into the first level of his home. A sly smile crossed the boy's lips as he tipped his cadet cap to the group of women on the other side of the door, threw his escape rope out the window, and stepped ever so cautiously onto it. As the petite figure scaled down the wall he wondered what sort of panicked expressions the women would be wearing if they could only see him now. If anything they should be proud; he finally felt like one of the heroes of detective fiction.

xx

"Mr. Tatsumi you're going to need to come down to the station with me." The bleach haired boy sighed a bit as he fully opened the door and motioned for the sleep deprived man to enter his house. Ryotaro Dojima, single father who Kanji swore survived on nothing but coffee, was at his door once more. The older man always seemed to be disheveled, exhausted, and in need of a shave but today he appeared to be a bit more out of it that usual. Perhaps something was bothering him? Not that it was any of the teenager's business, they were only acquaintances because of his past delinquent behavior, but he still felt sorry for the guy. One could only imagine how difficult it had to be trying to raise a young girl while also holding a high position in a job that required complete dedication. God bless the guy. But why was he here? Surely Dojima was not here to arrest him; he had been exhibiting extremely good behavior lately. As if sensing the boy's internal confusion the detective rubbed his temple and shook his head slowly. "You can't just go disappearing, your mother filed a missing person's report and everything. Now we need you to clear some things up."

Kanji just stared in bewilderment at the man. Surely this could not possible be about that. Said expedition to Wonderland had transpired nearly a month ago! Raising a questioning eyebrow the boy crossed his arms over a black shirt with a skull on it. "I a'int stupid ya know. If you're tryin' to blame some shit on me just say so, 'ight?" That was probably what this was really about. Some idiotic pranksters who thought they were all that had most likely destroyed some public property which, of course, meant that it was all his fault. Jeez, even when he wasn't doing anything he was still in trouble. As a matter of fact he had not even left the house since that night. Something in his head just felt cloudy and it was too painful a task to even sit up. Ma hadn't minded him staying in though, she left him alone the majority of the time, however she was probably just glad he was alive. Honestly, you go missing once and those darn mothers never want to let you out of their sight again. "It's been too long for that to be your reason."

The man with dark bags under his eyes just closed them and shook his head once more. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. We've been pretty busy lately; what with the mysterious murders of Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi. Not to mention the fact that the only help we've been sent for those cases hasn't been at work in ages. Kid's got the flu or something." When he realized what he was saying the man instantly shut up. "But I've already said too much. Is your mother home?" Kanji uttered that was a negative but he was still thinking about something Dojima had just said. They sent out for help? He hadn't seen any new police officers around, and he would certainly be the first one to notice that. Law officials seemed to flock to him like moths to a flame, but he hadn't met anyone new recently. Well, excluding Naoto. But the cobalt haired boy was exactly that, a boy. Not a man but a child; and everyone knew that police officers were old men. However, Dojima had just called this mysterious character 'kid'. Lots of older people called their juniors kid though, it was a term that this man could even get away with calling a guy in his early twenties.

Apparently his response was not loud enough for Dojima was still arting at him as if he expected an answer. "No, Ma ain't here. Why? Don't wanna have to cuff me in front of her?" The punk spat, obviously not believing that the man just wanted to talk and have him fill out some paper work. He was constantly getting into trouble with the law, how was he supposed to believe that having a cop show up at your door could possibly be a good thing? If he needed some paper work done then why couldn't he have just mailed it. It would have been at his house the next day, or even later the same day, considering he only lived about a ten minute walk away from the station. But his glaring eyes only met tired ones and, for a moment, he felt a tad ashamed for questioning the man. "I'll just write her a note sayin' I went out." The boy muttered quickly as he grabbed a piece of paper off one of the boxes and scribbled a quick sentence on it. Trying to change the conversation he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, stuck his hands in his pockets, and looked out the window. "So, wanna tell me about the new guy? Seems like a slacker."

This brought a small smile to the man's drained and even produced a light laugh. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. When was the last time you went to school?" As much as he wanted to participate in the witty repartee Kanji could not come up with a response, He could barely recall the last time he actually attended a class. No wait, it was the day he skipped stones with Naoto of course. But that wasn't exactly a manly answer so perhaps silence was best. "But I guess that's something you two have in common. I wonder what that boy does for school, he certainly isn't at Yasogami." The black clad boy found this a bit difficult to grasp. Who did not attend school? The new detective? But of course not, he had to be done with school. Then again, Dojima mentioned Yasogami; surely he could not be implying that the new officer was a high school student. Speaking of high school, where did his short little friend go? Maybe he was homeschooled? But no, his grandfather was ill, surely there would be no time for the sick elderly man to teach. A definite frown appeared on the boy's face and his eyes squinted. Things just kept getting curiouser and curiouser.

xx

The only flaw in the Detective Prince's plan seemed to be the dreadful miscalculation in the height from his window to the ground below. The eggshell colored sheets could only reach about two and a half stories down so it appeared that he was going to have to jump for it if he wanted to reach the grass. That brought up the question about how he was going to get back into his room when the day was over. Making his escape was one thing, getting back in unnoticed was another. A pity he had not put nearly as much thought into that last part. Oh well, there was no time to dilly dally, the precinct would be open by now and he did not want to arrive all that late his first day back; that would seem most careless. Shutting his eyes tightly the frail boy released the bedding and allowed gravity to do the rest. A light ache and a miniscule tear in the left pant leg were the only downfalls to that decision. Thankfully the sprinklers did not reach to this part of the complex; otherwise he would have landed in a fresh patch of mud instead of on the bouncy grass.

Straightening up he brushed off any lingering dirt fragments and fixed his cap. According to his watch, the precious cell phone that he normally used to tell time had been taken away the moment he entered solitary confinement, he had about ten minutes until he was officially late. The town car could get him there in five on a good day so he was going to have to go at about half the automobile's average speed in order to get there on time. That meant that forty…divided by two... crud. He was going to have to be going at twenty miles an hour if he wanted to cover the three point three miles to the precinct and make it in time. So that option was out considering it was physically impossible. Perhaps he could lose a great deal of distance if he cut through the woods that were across the road. Yes. Since they made a double U shape driving there he could simply go across the top pint; after all, the shortest way from point A to point B was always a straight line. With any luck the time he bought himself would be enough to slip in the front door just as the clock struck six thirty.

xx

"So you're trying to tell me that you guys have a kid workin' for ya?" The delinquent inquired with a small laugh of his own. So far the walk to the station had been almost enjoyable; they had talked about sports, the weather, and about the man's daughter Nanako's recent hundred on a spelling test. In fact, for a short while, Kanji had even forgotten where they were headed. "Aren't there like child labor laws against that?" He just could not get over the fact that the Inaba police were employing a boy his age to help with a murder investigation. What sort of child wanted to fill their mind with such mature ideas when there were so many good mind numbing video games out there? This newbie had to be dreadfully dull, strict, and uptight if he got along well with the police force. Certainly he had to have no real friends his own age. They would keep him from wasting time messing around in affairs that did not concern him and occupy his time with smiles, inside jokes, and trips to Junes. Not that the punk knew firsthand about any of that, but it seemed to be what other students his age did.

"There's no labor laws against employing a private detective." Dojima added politely. Though the older man did have to wonder what sort of guardian let a young teenager run around witnessing gruesome monstrosities and laying their life on the line daily. "The kid's unbelievably clever though." Kanji nodded respectfully. The kid would have to be if all these adults were really taking him seriously. Either that or his family had to have some major connections in the law world."Sharp as a tack really, but he's got some serious internal issues. I just don't understand it. He has reputation enough to get any job that he wants, but still seems so insecure." Hard to believe that someone like that could be self-conscious. If anything Kanji expected him to be arrogant beyond all belief with a major superiority complex."If you ask me, I think that what he really needs is a friend; someone to play catch with who can tell him to postpone having a career for a couple years." The man rolled his shoulders as he glanced at the boy beside him, as if searching in his puzzled expression for some deeper meaning. "But hey, what do I know?"

"Nah, ya got a point." For some reason the young delinquent felt as if the detective was trying to get him to befriend this strange kid. Like that was ever going to happen, who in their right mind would want to hang around with someone that was obliged to turn you in if you did anything wrong. One step out of line and your best friend would be throwing you behind bars. Oh yes, that sounded like a delightful friendship-not. Especially considering that he was already on Inaba's most wanted list, and not in a good way. "Well I'd offer myself up in a heartbeat but there's no way that me and junior Marlowe would ever hit it off." The detective seemed to ponder this for a moment before sighing in agreement. Thank god, if he had said anything more Kanji feared that he might have already scheduled a play date between the two. This seemed to sadden the official for his face fell a bit at that. "But, uh, I think I know someone like that." At this the man's face lit up again and the delinquent made a mental note to apologize to poor Naoto for throwing him under the bus like this. "Yeah, he's new to town as well and is pretty mature for someone his age."

"That sounds marvelous Kanji, thank you. See, good deed aren't all that hard, now are they?" To the contrary, they were quite hard, the bleach haired boy just knew that he was going to get scolded for offering the short boy up. The cobalt haired child would probably lash out and state that he could make his own friends. Ugh, this was going to be the disaster of the century. Maybe he could just 'forget' to tell Dojima his name and the older man would eventually disregard this silly little conversation. "I know I shouldn't try to pry into his life. It's just that I feel pretty bad for the kid. Rumor going around the precinct is that his parents died in a car crash when he was little." Oh shit, now he was going to have to introduce the stranger to his only friend. Great, just great, stupid guilt; when the hell did that feeling work its way into his life? "And I can't help but think about how awful it would be if Nanako had lost me, as well as her mother, and then was left in a new town without a single friend."

Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly the Tatsumi boy attempted to sympathize with the pained look on the ageing man's face. "That's...that's rough." As he spoke the words he figured they both knew his pity was not for this new detective. Instead it was for the Dojima family; for Nanako who, thanks to a cruel twist of fate, had to grow up without a mother to take care of her, and for Dojima who was left all alone with a little girl that he had no idea how to raise. He was trying his best, his exhausted exterior showed that fact quite clearly, but it just was not enough. A little girl needed a woman in her life to love her, braid her hair, bake cookies in the winder with her, and pick out her clothes. How could an older man possibly be expected to know what colors were in and what all the fuss over Zefron was about? It was positively absurd. "A kid needs their parents more than anythin' in the world, especially when they're younger." Whether his words reached the man's ears or not were unclear for his gaze on the horizon never let up.

"Staying with his grandfather, ya know." Was he really still talking about that little boy? Jeez, Dojima had to get over the fact that this boy's parents were dead, not Nanako's. He was still alive and kicking so his sweet little girl was not going to be sent to live with relatives. For one with such a foreboding and intimidating exterior he certainly was a worrywart when it came to his daughter. Sure it was somewhat reassuring, and a bit refreshing to see that there was still such commitment in the world, but this wasn't the time. The department had therapists and psychologists for this sort of confession; surely he could not have chosen to vent these pent up feelings to the boy whom he was always hauling in for breaking the law. The next time they met was going to be filled with either tension or a sickeningly buddy-buddy feeling. Whichever way it went one could be positive that the situation would be uncomfortably awkward for both parties. "But instead of feeling sorry for the guy I guess we should be in awe. He's so young and already known across the world as the Detective Prince."

xx

Pausing a moment to catch his breath the vertically challenged boy put a hand over his heart to monitor the increasing pulse rate. Who knew that running would tire him so? Surely he was not so out of shape that ten minutes worth of sprinting could cause him to feel faint. Luckily he rarely had to run any place, imagine if this was a daily task! Collecting himself a bit the petite prince opened the door to the station and walked briskly over to the secretary's desk. "Good morning ma'am." He whispered cheerfully, so as not to disturb the other officers in the entrance room. His light tip of the cap sent the older women into a fit of giggles. From what Naoto had heard she had a grandson about his age, perhaps she could become friends with grandfather. Yakushiji was wonderful company, but he was also an employee, so their relationship was based on the flow and distribution of income. "I'm terribly sorry that I've been out for so long; I was feeling a bit under the weather." He admitted bashfully, hoping that she would not notice that he was lying through his teeth.

"I heard about that, poor thing. I was going to drop by with some hot soup but I was not sure which type you liked. Chicken noodle used to work for just about every situation but now so many children don't like it." Naoto was about to tell her how kind it was that she had even thought of him when a bell rang through the room signaling that someone else had entered. The woman behind the desk peered over his small shoulders and rolled her eyes slightly. "Oh dear, he's here again." Confusion consumed him as he wondered just who she was referring to. Turning slightly he attempted to use his peripheral vision to see who had entered while also keeping his focus on the woman. But at the faint sight of silver he nearly toppled over. There, in the doorway, was the one person who could not see him in this place. What was Kanji doing here on today of all days? And what was Dojima-san doing alongside him for that matter? Maybe he should just jump behind the desk and duck down before anyone noticed him. From the back he looked like a lot of cobalt haired people like… well he couldn't exactly think of anyone else with his color hair but there had to be some people out there with it.

The hardened detective glanced up and his eyes immediately focused on the pint sized boy by the main desk. "What are the odds?" The short child heard Dojima say and he could have sworn his heart stopped beating. "Naoto! Hey, Naoto!" The boy reluctantly turned to fact the two, eyes dancing along the floor to avoid having the displeasure of reading their body language. From Dojima's tone he was more than pleased but, good lord, what could Kanji be thinking right now? The thought was enough to make him feel like vomiting. For once he longed for the safety solitary life offered him. Why oh why had he chosen today of all days to sneak out? The stars surely were not aligned in his favor. "We were just talking about you." Oh no, please no. "Well quit fooling around, come over here and say hello will you?" His soft orbs flickered upwards towards the delinquent and his feet remained firmly in place. "Oh, well I know he looks tough but deep down he's just a big softie. Came all the way here to help me file some paper work, can you believe that?" No, as a matter of fact the Detective Prince could not believe that. He could not believe that Kanji was not in trouble, that Dojima was really about to introduce them, and that any of this was really happening.

Now the Tatsumi boy was in a state of absolute shock, what on earth was his friend doing at the police station? He couldn't possibly be in some sort of trouble; he was the goody two shoes type. But what else was there for someone to do in such a place? "W-We were?" He inquired, a puzzled expression engulfing his normally cool and relaxed exterior. Had Dojima known all along whom Kanji was offering up to befriend his new police officer? That would be positively uncanny. As Naoto cautiously approached them he offered up a small, yet awkward, smile to his undersized friend. However the pained look the Shirogane boy was wearing quickly dissolved it into a look of concern. Was he missing something important that the other two were well aware of? No, Dojima's lightheartedness was a peculiar contrast to the Naoto's grave aura. He was about to ask his friend what was troubling him so when a loud cough intervened. The two teenagers stared at the detective who merely smiled brightly back at them and pointed at the smaller of the two boys. The accomplished look he was sporting showed how proud of himself the man obviously was.

Before the words even came out of the single father's mouth a horrible realization overcame the delinquent. This man had not been referring to the boy Kanji was talking about. Rather, he was referencing the child that he felt needed more friends. A splitting pain shot through his skull and he felt as though he needed to lie down. "Kanji Tatsumi this is our newest member, Naoto Shirogane." He was a cop... he was a cop! He didn't even care about their friendship, he couldn't. Came to Inaba to care for his sick grandfather, what a joke! The black clad boy couldn't believe that he had fallen for such blatant lies. All the times they had hung out, was he just observing the delinquent's behavior and reporting back to the higher-ups? Was he just another rung on the ladder too this boy's success? Fury began to make its way into his heart and he couldn't even stand to look at the boy who seemed to be incapable of doing anything more than hanging his head in shame "Naoto Shirogane this is Kanji Tatsumi, his mother owns the textile store in the shopping district. You two are about the same age so maybe you could be-"

"No." The word fell flat as he looked down at the cringing blue figure. "We could never be friends." Naoto did not even move; he showed no signs of caring. After all they had been through he didn't even care! The nerve, how could he ever justify what he had done? All the lies and going behind his back, it was unbelievable. Sure the bleach haired boy was a punk, but at least he was upfront with people! He didn't go around luring people into a false sense of security only to later break their trust. "Sorry Sir, I'll have to fill out those forms later. Right now I have to go, I'm late for school." Whipping around the tall boy took off back through the doors at an alarmingly fast rate. Dojima merely stood there, mouth agape in awe at how rude the teenager had just been. Yet he could not help but feel a bit excited that Kanji was taking such an interest in school all of a sudden. At the speed the heartbroken boy was going there was no way he could have heard the faint sniffle emitted from the petite detective as two crystal tears rained down from the pain filled eyes hidden beneath a worn out cap.

xx

Rushing, reeling, spinning, his thoughts were going a mile a minute as the Tatsumi boy attempted to find some sort of stability. 'Actually my grandfather has fallen ill and my mother sent me to care for him.' Bull shit; his mother was dead and, for all Kanji knew, his grandfather was in fine health. To think he actually pitied the boy when right from the start this Detective Prince had been playing him. Well that would certainly never happen again. If he ever saw that pipsqueak again, so help him god, the kid would be knocked unconscious before even got a chance to apologize. The bullet wearing boy would just take his fist and pound it right into Naoto's face; his frail looking face that seemed as if it might shatter if you looked at him the wrong way. The sweet face that often made butterflies dance around in his stomach and could melt any feelings of rage or fury he might be harboring. Those delicate features he wore which looked as lovely as if some skilled craftsmen had spent hours upon hours toiling away with a thin brush in order to ensure their perfection. No, he had to get those thoughts out of his head; they were no longer an option. Sure Naoto was physically the definition of cute and charming, at least in Kanji's eyes, but his personality was truly hideous.

What was he to do now? Normally this sort of situation required another friend in which the victim of another's betrayal could confide…but he didn't have anyone else. Or, did he? Those students from before seemed to have understanding beyond their years; perhaps they could offer him some words of wisdom. It was a long shot but, right now, it was the only idea his fried brain could come up with. At first he was unsure as to how he could possibly contact them, and then it hit him. In order to find these kids he was going to have to attend Yasogami High School for real, what a pain. Well he might as well head home first then and change. The skull undershirt could stay but he was going to need dress pants and the school jacket if he actually wanted to get in. This brought forth a light snort of laughter; those damn teachers should be happy that he was showing up at all instead of fretting over their petty little dress code. Normally he would have just walked in and, if they turned him away, so be it. But, for once, he actually needed in; so fine, he would play by their rules for now.

xx

A party with actual underage drinking, grandfather would be so proud that Naoto hadn't been invited. The fact that someone had been idiotic enough to call in it was what truly astounded the boy. Everyone knew it went on but reporting it? The young detective had assumed the person he was being sent out to see was an older woman with nothing better to do in her free time. What he had gotten was a middle-aged housewife who seemed to find it her mission in life to rant about the problems with today's youth. Ugh, after this morning and that terribly long speech he seriously needed some Tylenol. Right now his small form felt as if it had been hit over the head with a load of bricks. This was all Kanji's fault, he just knew it. Normally he would have been able to shrug off the woman's words and politely excuse himself but today he just sat there and took all that verbal abuse; it was almost as if, somewhere deep down, he felt as though he deserved it. But he had not done anything wrong; he merely played the role that was required of him. So what if a single person got hurt, it was for the greater good.

An unbelieving sigh escaped his glossy lips for that certainly was not the truth. As much as he wanted to be a great detective and protector of the peace Naoto knew that he would have sacrificed a thousand people's happiness and wellbeing in order to preserve the precious friendship he had shared with Kanji. Moving towards Junes rather than the estate the cobalt haired boy attempted to evaluate what he had just allowed himself to think. Could it be that his sense of justice had been totally warped by this, this criminal? They had only met briefly on a few occasions and yet there was this aching feeling deep in his chest knowing that they would never hang out again. From the wounded expression he wore someone might be so bold as to think that he had just been through a nasty breakup, but that was far from the case. They had never been a couple, well they sort of were since there were just two of them, but not in the romantic way- that was just silly, They were just friends, now ex-friends, who happened to care a lot about one another. Well, he thought Kanji cared about him, at least a little bit, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking.

Three or so steps away from the outdoor section an all too familiar voice shook the dreamy boy out of his thoughts. Up ahead was the boy who made his knees weak, and he was with those troublesome junior sleuths from before. Just what was he doing associating with the likes of them? What sort of crazy double standard was that? He refused to be friends with the Detective Prince but willingly joined up with these wannabes who stuck their noses where they clearly did not belong? And as if that wasn't bad enough he hadn't even waited several hours before moving onto a new group of friends, oh how infuriating. Well Naoto would show him! He'd get some friends of his own and, and, oh what was the use. He might as well just go back to reading detective novels and playing chess with grandfather. Glancing at the small group once more the child noted the cheerfulness in their eyes and delight in their laughter. About to storm away he was halted by a sudden statement that seemed quite out of the ordinary. "Huh? You knew before it happened? Damn, I wish you guys'd come a little earlier, then…"

Shifting his body so that a pole concealed his presence the officer tried to wrap his mind around what had just been said. These children knew what before it happened? They could not possibly be talking about Kanji's strange disappearance could they? And what happened for that matter? It certainly seemed as though he was being kept in the dark about something. So much for best friends not having any secrets; no wonder their friendship was bound to fail. Right from the start they were doomed to fall apart and, eventually, grow to despise one another. Of course that was just the anger talking; but he still withheld the right to be mad. The wound was still fresh and here he was laughing with a new group of friends, way to rub salt in the cut Kanji. As the Shirogane boy continued to glare hatefully in his ex-friend's general direction the brunette girl moved slightly as if she was about to say something important. Eyes shutting he attempted to close off all his senses except hearing. Whatever she was about to say he needed to be aware of. Unfortunately she spoke so softly that the only words he could make out were killer and what he figured might be countdown; not exactly much to go on there.

The next part of the conversation was also inaudible so, with a distraught grumble, the Detective Prince decided to call it a day. He still had to find a way back into his window after all and, right now, the wrath of his grandfather seemed so much more important than tailing these students who could just be playing make-believe for all he knew. However, if they were just playing a game, they had a remarkable knack for lifelike details. No, they couldn't be just messing around. Note that it was not as if he actually wanted to join up with those five or anything, but he did need to find out just how much they really knew. Sure they could not possibly be expected to know anything more than he had already uncovered, but it was still worth checking out; if for no other reason than to make sure that they did not get themselves into trouble. Not that he should care, Kanji was no longer his concern so what if he got kidnapped or something? It wouldn't matter, Naoto wouldn't mind in the slightest. There was no way that he was going to let anything that had to do with the Tatsumi boy get to him, no way no how.

xx

Crushed, yet determined not to let it affect his mental capabilities, the boy returned home. By now the sprinklers had to have been fixed; even in his absence Yakushiji would not have allowed a problem to persist. So that meant that the grounds keepers would be out and about trying to salvage what was left of his family's flooded back yard. If he just kept his head down and tried to be silent there should be no problem in his slipping behind the rosebushes that surrounded the left side of the mansion. From there he could just make a dash to the bed sheet rope hanging out of his window, scale the wall, climb in the window, role up the sheets to put back on his bed, and go back to reading all before anyone caught on. Yes, that was bound to work; the first part of the plan was less thought out and that succeeded perfectly. But, as he stole a peek at his room's window, his eyes became as wide as plates. There was no ladder hanging out of it, in fact the window was not even open. Taped to the glass was a piece of paper with the word 'DOOR' written on it.

A sickening feeling consumed the boy as he walked ever so slowly towards the large marble entrance way. Who had ever heard of a detective being caught by their nanny? Oh man, if grandfather knew he was going to be slaughtered. The old man's voice echoed in his head with the scolding Naoto already knew he would be receiving later that night. 'Naoto Shirogane I am so disappointed in you. How dare you run off like some convict? My dear child you are, in no way, prisoner 24601; do not expect me to forgive you.' Maybe he should just turn around now and go back to Junes. Perhaps he could buy some camping equipment and live in the woods. That plan was cut short by the opening of one of the heavy doors. Inside the well lit room stood the caretaker himself, a grim look in his eyes and an almost twisted smile on his lips. "Good evening young master." He greeted the boy with a slight bow. "Need I escort you to your room? I hope you like the addition your grandfather made to your windows; I hear that bars are all the rage these days."

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**A/N:** So this is sorta blah…sorry. It's been snowing a lot and I'm not sure why but precipitation always makes me feel pretty down. Rain is gross and ruins picnics, snow is a pain to move, sleet is yucky, and hail is just painful.

**Next Chapter:** It's my life! Fists will fly, screams will pierce the air, and two ex-friends will get more than they bargained for. "Don't treat me like I'm a child!" "Then don't treat me like I'm a fucking criminal!" Perhaps he should have bit his tongue there, but for some reason the aspiring detective pressed the matter further. "Don't lie to me Kanji, I've read your damn files!"


	6. It's My Life

**A/N:** Happy Valentine's Day everyone! And what better way to celebrate this day of love than with a dramatic fight scene? Sure I could have gone with chocolates, heartwarming embraces, or kissing by the riverside...but that's dreadfully boring. You know what else is boring; my use of the word dreadful. My little sister commented on it today when I told her that the eyeliner she was scribbling all over her face looked dreadful. So I guess I do say it too much. I'm not sure if it pops up a lot in my writing… well some people say 'like' after every other word so I guess I should be thankful that I'm not one of those. Anyway you don't really care about any of that nonsense. What you might want to know is that I have school off this week so you can expect an update around Thursday. Thanks for reading!

Kisdota: If you don't like it then don't read it. I already apologized for something that I really shouldn't have and I don't plan on apologizing again. Your grammar and spelling is atrocious. Honestly, it takes twenty seconds tops to re-read the two or three sentences you write; could you please try to learn the difference between 'know' and 'now'? For that matter what on earth do those little star things mean? You wrote that it's 'still a little ** the eyes'. Were you trying to make a point there? I'm just curious because I certainly do not see one. If you're going to insult me please take the time to do it properly.

.Sun: I'm so glad you got it! As I was going over the chapter I considered leaving that part out for fear that no one would get it and I would look crazy. Your comments always make me so happy, thank you.

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_You better stand tall  
When they're calling you out  
Don't bend, don't break  
Baby, don't back down_

_-Bon Jovi_

**It's My Life**

"Naoto Shirogane, the Detective Prince." A long haired woman spoke tenderly as she ran a hand through the young boy's hair. "I'm so proud of you." His arms shot out as to pull the shadowed figure into a tight embrace but, before he could reach her, the woman's form melted into the darkness. Eyes opening wide in horror the petite Naoto took off, running blindly through the dusk covered world. Tap, tap, tap; he paused for a moment and turned slightly. Could that sound possibly be her? Tap, tap, tap; it was growing louder now and the cobalt haired boy recoiled a bit. Tap, tap, ta- rocketing upward the newly awoken boy tried to get a grasp on what had just happened. Mother, he had been thinking of her again; hadn't he? With an exasperated sigh his head flopped back down onto the soft pillow, cobalt locks splayingout to all sides. How childish did he have to be to keep dreaming about his darling 'mommy'? Ugh it was such a disgusting display of juvenile affect- tap, tap, tap. His oceanic orbs shot to the window just in time to see a pebble descending from impact. What on earth?

With a light groan Naoto threw back the covers and slipped on the nauseatingly adorable rabbit slippers that his grandfather had bought him last year as a Christmas present. True they were not exactly something a mature young adult wore but, in the confines of his room, it was not as if anyone else could see them. Within the safety of the four white walls he was free to do whatever he pleased. The moment his cap was placed on one of the golden door hangers the petite boy was no longer the Detective Prince. Rather, he was just another teenager who enjoyed curling up in a reclining chair with a nice detective novel and a cup of steaming tea. Early grey of course with no more than three sugars; the more cubes one put in the more childish they appeared to onlookers. A light yawn broke free from his frown as the boy went over to the window to investigate the cause of the tapping. He expected to find one of the groundskeepers mowing the lawn or something like that. It was not at all that uncommon for pebbles to be swallowed up by lawnmowers, work their way through the inner gears, and finally be ejected out the side pipeline. What he found however, as his eyes peered out the now bared window, was a certain bleach haired boy pacing around nervously.

Quickly drawing back, the boy searched for some form of refuge. For, right now, he was dressed only in a truly unflattering large white tee-shirt and sapphire shorts. His hair was a wreck and, considering how late he had stayed up the previous night pouring over a cold case, there were sure to be bags underneath his eyes. Oh he looked like a mess, there was no denying it, but this was not exactly the time to be scrounging around for a hairbrush. Instead he merely patted down the stray locks and slammed the cadet cap over the rest. Grabbing a navy bathrobe off the bed post Naoto crossed the sash around himself in a desperate attempt to look a bit more professional. So what if he sure as hell did not look anything close to presentable, he still had some pride left- he was an officer of the law after all. Glancing into the mirror he took an authoritative stance and tried to convince himself that, even in bed wear, he was a force to be reckoned with. Five or so steps later he was at the window again and staring daggers down at the absent minded boy below.

Rapping on the glass he tried to draw the other boy's attention for he seemed to be staring off into space. What a pain, it looked as if he was going to have to actually call out to Kanji. But those damn bars looked so disgraceful. Here he was, defender of the innocent, champion for justice, boy who brushed his teeth three times a day to please his grandfather, stuck in his room like a caged bird. How humiliating, if the black clad boy took the opportunity to laugh at him Naoto would have no objections. He deserved mockery for having sunk so low. But could it really be considered all his fault? Surely the fact that Mr. Shirogane was so far behind in the proper child containment methods played a great part. Someone just needed to inform the man that he should threaten to take away his case files instead of his freedom. Even locked away like some animal he could be content with his mystery books and seemingly endless stack of cases. Cold cases, what a wonderful thing they were. The terrible files were a sense of security; if he failed to solve them no one would even notice, let alone care. Whereas, if he could not solve the Inaba murders, the starry-eyed boy would be marked as a failure for life.

Two doll like hands pushed full force on the glass which slowly pried about halfway open. Hopefully, from the outside, the bars would just look like another set of panes. Clearing his voice in preparation for the initial call the Shirogane boy pondered what exactly he should say to his now ex-friend. 'The hell are you doing here' seemed to work, but it sounded terribly improper. 'State your reason for trespassing' sounded far too official and 'Go away' was too rude. "Kanji!" At his name the boy glanced upward at the window and appeared to breathe a sigh of relief. Had the scarred boy merely made a guess at which window was his? That certainly seemed like the only possible case, how else could he possibly have known? That is, unless he had happened to meet one of the multiple workers that should have been scurrying around by now. If those fools had let him into the premises in some false hope of them making up they were extremely mistaken. He was not going to play nice and make friends no matter how much the staff pressured him. There was nothing more perfect than solitude where no one could trample all over your feelings. "What are you doing here?"

He must have asked it a bit too rudely for Kanji instantly took to the defensive. "What's it look like you, ya little squirt?" Naoto's face tensed at this but the delinquent merely smiled sweetly. By now he knew exactly how to push the detective's buttons and boy, did he plan on pressing them all. No one messed with Kanji Tatsumi and, if someone had the nerve to try it, one could bet that they wouldn't last a minute. There was no way in hell that he was going to let his tiny boy make him back down. He had come all this way and he was not leaving until he got everything off his chest. "You owe me an explanation." It was only fair after all; he had a right to know why this boy had lied to him time and time again. How could he believe anything Naoto had ever told him? Heck, he was not sure if he could even believe the fact that the kid had never skipped stones before. Was that just another tactic to try to win him over? Did this cop already know that it was something he used to do with his father?

Let's get this straight; he, the victim of this entire affair, owed Kanji an explanation? How did that even sort of make sense in that stupid head of his? Obviously all that bleaching of the combed over crew cut had damaged more than a few brain cells. The prince could feel his blood rising and his muscles constricting. If they were face to face right now he surely would have considered throwing a punch or two. Well, on second thought maybe not. This boy had beaten the living daylights out of an entire biker gang; that pretty much guaranteed that he could basically massacre the book enthusiast. If he was ever stuck in a battle his gun would have to be his first weapon of choice for his feet were about as useless as his hands and he could not wield any other sort of handheld weaponry. "I don't owe you anything!" The boy yelled down from his window. "Get off of my property before I call the authorities!" How ironic, normally he was the one of the people a person would call in this type of situation. Being on the other side of the line certainly was a real eye opener.

Call the police, what a joke. They both knew very well that Naoto had no intention of doing any such thing. Still, the boy had to admit that it was a tad funny, even when verbally feuding Naoto still had to remain proper sounding. But no, he couldn't think like that, such thoughts would only rekindle the feelings, only friendly of course, that he once had for the boy. No, he had to stay aggravated, to thrive off his anger. All the aggression that he was feeling had to be transformed into power, power that could be used to hurt this boy as he had hurt him. There needed to be some justice; so what if an eye for an eye made the whole world blind? If Kanji was going to be blind then it was only right for the one who had blinded him to be forced into relinquishing his sight as well. "Oh well excuse me ya prissy little snob! I'll have you know that you lied to me and, where I come from, that sort of thing requires an apology!" His eyes dropped back down to the ground for a moment and the pitch of his voice changed slightly. "Or... or at least some reasoning..."

"I didn't lie!" Naoto's strained voice spat back. "You never asked if I was with the police force. If you had I would have answered honestly!" But that was a lie. If Kanji had asked he would never have dared to answer truthfully. His entire life had been spent in the land of make believe where Sherlock Holmes was his mentor and the cases he assisted his grandfather on were secretly his own. He tried so hard to create the ideal fantasy land because the truth was nothing but a world full of disappointment. However, once he found out what the real world was lacking, and was able to fill it, suddenly his dream was altered. The friendship that he had been missing out on for so long was truly something wonderful; and he cherished it so very much. It was incomparable to anything else he had ever experienced, even the mix of joy and pride that overcame him when he solved his first solo case. However he had now felt what it was like to lose a friend and that made him nauseous. It was so much better to skip the feeling friendship gave him in order to keep from the overwhelming pain and emptiness its leaving created.

The rebellious boy's face became a dark shade of scarlet as a blush overcame him. He would have answered truthfully? But wait a second; he was just playing the odds on the situation. "Oh, like I would know to ask that!" He roared, causing a few oriels in a nearby tree to retreat into the sky. "I'm sorry that my first thought wasn't 'oh! A little kid! Better ask if they're a cop before I sit next to them and strike up a god damn conversation!'" Who would have ever thought that the mousey little boy, who looked absolutely terrified to be alone on a train, would turn out to be a hardboiled detective? Well, maybe not hardboiled, he was a scrawny little twerp after all. Just how did he intimidate criminals? What did he do, cry until they admitted to whatever crime he was accusing them of? Or did he go around making friends with every delinquent he met? Yes, that was certainly safe; moseying up to men who could break every little bone in his pretty err normal looking for a boy of his size and not at all attractive body.

"Well you should have! Or maybe if you had taken the time to really get to know me you could have inferred it!" No, there was no way that he could have known. This was so stupid, so completely idiotic, he was just trying to shift the blame now, and any reasonable person could see that. No, Kanji deserved that, he could have asked. He should have noticed that he was different than all the other teenagers, sensed that there was an adult air to him, and figured out the truth for himself. Or, perhaps, maybe he simply wanted to keep it a secret; at very least until Kanji came to terms with it on his own and accepted it. So what if he wished for a world where Kanji would be content with Naoto's chosen occupation? None of that mattered now, they had…irreconcilable differences. "You… you stupid jerk!" As he screamed the last piece the Detective Prince's voice cracked into such a high pitched that it sounded almost feminine. The small boy coughed loudly in an attempt to cover it up but it obviously did not work all that well for yet another poisonous smile plagued the black clad boy's lips.

The Tatsumi boy emitted a deep and condescending laugh as he glared daggers up at Naoto. "Oh look at the mighty Detective Prince and his magical cracking voice." Said boy recoiled a bit in embarrassment but Kanji was by no means finished. "Thought ya were older than me, what's the problem; still goin' through puberty?" He inquired with a snicker. True this was extremely cruel but this kid had it coming. If he hadn't acted like such a little brat than maybe they wouldn't even be in this predicament. And what was with this 'you should have asked' bull shit? It was like he was a chick playing mind games or something, how annoying. Girls always expected men to know everything they didn't say, it was madness! Still, he shouldn't have made fun of the little squirt's voice. In fact, it almost seemed to suit him more than the foreboding tone he normally put on. Part of Kanji wondered if that was how he really sounded under all the sarcastic remarks and patronizing comments. That actually would not be too bad; in fact, if they ever hung out again, god forbid, he would probably try to convince Naoto to talk in such a tone more often.

Biting his lip to refrain from whimpering the orphaned boy fought back tears that were beginning to well in his eyes. What was going on? He never cried, ever, and in the past two days he had cried twice! He was Naoto Shirogane, the great Detective Prince, he was a big boy and big boys did not cry! They solved their problems with inventive solutions, intellect, and lawsuits when the situation called for such. But they most certainly did not cry! It was degrading, childish, and most importantly it was not him. How out of character did he feel right now? Why was every moral he once had falling apart? Kanji, that had to be it; he was perfectly fine until he met that stupid boy! "Oh well look who's talking Mr. I'm going to break laws because I can!" The child screeched back at such a shrill pitch that it was a wonder all the windows on the mansion did not shatter. "I'm Kanji, I'm too good for rules. Look at my bleached hair, I'm so freaking rebellious!" He probably should have been mature and shut the window then. It would be so easy to just walk away and turn on some music to drown out whatever nasty things Kanji would most likely yell up. But his feet remained firmly in place, his eyes locked on the boy outside.

"Ya little shit." He muttered hatefully, but so softly that it did not rise to meet the boy's ears. Casting an arm dramatically out he motioned as if he were bowing and removing a hat, a cadet cap to be precise. "Look at me, I'm Naoto, I deceive people and sound like a little girl when I'm mad." Whether the cobalt haired boy was furious, mortified, or both was quite unclear for his face was the color of a radish. "Oh wait, did I say little? Oh little- I get so pissed when people call me little even though I'm fucking tiny." Putting the other hand out to the side he motioned to about the height of his knee. So what if Naoto came up to about halfway though Kanji's torso, the shorter the demonstration the more riled up the boy would become. " And not only am I tiny, oh heavens no, I'm also small, miniature, petite, miniscule, and short." For a moment he was almost glad that they were on two different stories for the Detective Prince looked as if he was ready to lurch out of the window and viciously claw away at the delinquent's face.

"Don't you dare mock me!" Naoto shrieked at a volume that would have made even the most fearsome banshee envious. "I'm vertically challenged you inconsiderate ingrate!" He wasn't short; he just hadn't had his main growth spurt yet. Eventually he would become tall like his father, he just had to. Who could take him seriously when he was so disgustingly short? "Stop speaking down to me you rabble-rouser!" The only response he got was another infuriating laugh. Small fists slamming down on the windowsill he continued to screech at a tone that Kanji was almost positive was going to make his ears bleed. "Stop looking down at me!" Oh how funny that he was on third floor while Kanji was standing on the ground. But he meant it metaphorically and, hopefully, even the Tatsumi boy would be able to comprehend that. He couldn't be that dull, could he? No, he was underestimating the boy. His insults were quite effective so he couldn't have been all that oblivious to Naoto's emotions. A pity he only took note of the cadet cap wearing boy's faults rather than the many highlights of his personality. "I won't stand for it!"

"Oh no, Naoto won't stand for it. I'm soooo sorry." Honestly, it was just too easy to get the petite boy going. Sure it was mean, and a bit uncalled for, but, for once, it was nice to see the Detective Prince off his game. He was enraged, and losing his cool, and it almost made the usually calm and collected boy seem more human. Gazing upwards he looked right into the smaller boy's hurt eyes and noticed the slowly forming tear drops. "Is little Naoto 'gonna cry?" Oh that was too far; the moment the words escaped his mouth Kanji instantly regretted them. Sure they were not friends any longer, but that did not completely change the fact that he still harbored some feelings for the tiny child. Not romantic feelings of course, he wasn't gay by any stretch of the imagination, no matter what his shadow may have said to contradict that statement. But there was still some part of him that wished to protect the boy from anything that might threaten his happiness; and right now he was that threat. This attitude that he was sporting was sickening, but he couldn't stop. It was as if a part of him believed that he could get along fine if Naoto was entirely out of the picture.

Grabbing a pen off the nearby work desk Naoto proceeded to throw it forcefully through the gap between the middle bars. Fortunately for Kanji his aim had never been all that good, unless of course he was firing off a round from his trusty pistol, so it missed by an overshot of a good foot or so. "Don't treat me like I'm a child!" He was as close as one could be to an adult without technically being one. But in a few more years he would be eighteen and that was close enough to no longer being viewed as a child by his employers, right? "Idiotic delinquent; I despise you and all that you stand for!" This was exactly the reason his grandfather had sent him tutors rather than having the petite boy attend local schools. He was far too superior to be involved with the riffraff public school systems harbored; and juvenile delinquents like Kanji were the absolute worst. "I can't wait for the day that I send you to jail and throw away the key!" He wouldn't though, no matter what the Tatsumi boy ever did he wouldn't be able to send him to prison, ever; and that was what drove the cobalt haired boy positively mad. He lived for his work and this obnoxious punk was making it impossible to fulfill his legal obligations.

"You don't want me to talk down to you? Then don't treat me like I'm a fucking criminal!" It was completely unreasonable for Naoto to ask for Kanji to respect him when he was yelling insult after insult as well. "Here's a hint, oh great Detective Prince, practice what you preach!" They were young adults; shouldn't they be able to work this out without screaming at each other? Right now it had become a fight to see who could mentally harm the other the most. Neither of them wanted this, or maybe Naoto did, but the Tatsumi boy was sick of it. He was only going along with it because the other party was; why couldn't they both agree to stop? They could put it all behind them and move on; well move onto lives that no longer involved each other. The cobalt haired boy could go back to solving cases, and receiving the world's praise, and he could go back to screwing with the police department. Or, perhaps not; after spending time with Naoto he really had no desire to go vandalize a building or break a store's window. It was so strange, being a public nuisance was just about the only thing he excelled at. "Moron."

Perhaps he should have bit his tongue there, but for some reason the aspiring detective pressed the matter further. How could Kanji possibly expect him to overlook all the wrong things he had done? Sure he was behaving himself recently but that did not excuse his previous bad behavior. These sorts of things built on each other and someone who stole a pack of gum one day could grow into the kind of person who scaled buildings to steal priceless works of art. Sure that was rare, but he couldn't risk it. Everything he worked so hard to achieve, the status, title, and prestige could all be lost by associating with someone like the bleach haired boy. Didn't he care at all about the cadet cap wearing boy's future? How heartless and self-centered could he be to want his dream to fall to pieces? He just had to grow up to be a respected detective; he was a Shirogane after all, it was in his blood. To give everything up now would make him nothing more than a disgrace to his family's name. "Don't lie to me Kanji Tatsumi; I've read your damn files!"

"So the truth's finally all out in the open, eh?" He knew it, Naoto knew everything about him. How dare he act like he was oblivious to Kanji's multiple transgressions? What exactly was he looking for in examining the delinquent; was he writing a paper or something for his police friends? Or perhaps he was just a way to soften the transition from one city to another; get in good with the local officials? "Right from the start you know who I was!" It was just so aggravating, here he was trying so hard to be a better person and keep Naoto from speaking to anyone that would say anything about who he really was. He spent so much time, and put in so much effort, in order to form a more presentable persona but it was all just a waste of time. The petite detective knew all along that he was just putting on a show; oh god, and he was probably inwardly laughing at Kanji the entire time. "I can't believe this." He muttered darkly, hands tightening until they were two firmly clenched fists. "Ugh…you… you disgust me."

Before he could stop his mouth from opening the young Shirogane boy found himself answering more truthfully than he had initially intended. "Why? What the hell is so wrong with not calling you on it?" So he didn't alert Kanji to his profession the moment the black clad teenager sat down across from him, so what? "What exactly do you find so wrong with me getting to know you and making my own judgments?" So what if he wasn't inclined to think that some boy, a few months younger than him, was one hundred percent bad? Why was it so wrong for him to want to make that decision for himself instead of just assuming what everyone else said was the true. "What the fuck is your problem!?" His eyes shot open at this and his hands darted quickly to cover the now trembling lips. He had just sworn! He never swore, ever! Swearing was terribly unbecoming and made one appear to be a member of one of the lowest economic classes. Shirogane members were raised to be far classier than that. Oh how disappointed grandfather would be; right now he deserved to be locked away in his room.

Kanji was not quite sure which was more shocking: that Naoto initially wanted to make his own assumptions about him, or that the uptight boy had just used the f-word. Either way all he could do was stand there, mouth agape in awe. Shit, how ticked off must he have made the kid if he was throwing coarse words into the conversation? But the Tatsumi boy had to give him props; when the pipsqueak swore he went for the gold. It was almost funny but he dared not laugh for fear that the next thing that shot out that window would be more lethal than the pen had been. Dropping his voice down to a normal speaking volume the delinquent gazed back down at the ground which, by now, was quite raw from him digging his feet into it. "W-why would you wanna do that? If you knew I was trouble then why bother wastin' your time?" This Detective Prince character was probably an expert profiler by now for all Kanji knew. Why would he possibly want to waste time with someone like him? Surely it wasn't in the hopes that he could prove the cadet cap wearing boy wrong.

The boy just shook his head quickly back and forth as if trying to dismiss the questions he had just been presented with. He certainly did not want to embarrass himself any further by admitting his hidden hopes and ideals. "Never mind that, it's not important anymore." His voice too was almost a whisper but that was due to the fact that he was simply hoarse from all the yelling. Well, that and the fact that he was positively exhausted from this whole ordeal. There was only so much fighting a person could do before they tired themselves out; and his stamina had never been that great to begin with. Waving his hand a bit in the 'shoo shoo' manner he motioned that it was well past time for Kanji to leave. "Why don't you just run along now and play with your new friends?" He was probably going to see them afterwards anyway. Oh yes, and then they could all have a big laugh over the caged little friendless prince. "I bet they're sooo positively amazing, fun, likeable, and all around perfect." He spat, not even daring to look down at the black clad boy.

There was a strange sound in Naoto's voice that Kanji could not quite identify; it couldn't be jealousy, could it? No, that was just wishful thinking. "New friends; the hell are you talking about?" Was he possibly referring to Soji and the others who had rescued him from that horrid sauna like nightmare? Oh, right, he was probably just trying to get Kanji to hang out with them so that he could follow and find out what they were up to. Even now he was only looking out for himself. Was that stupid job of his really so important? Why couldn't he just be a normal teenager who didn't worry about school, let alone try to hold a career? Things would just be so much easier if he was an everyday kid just staying with his grandfather. But no, oh no, he had to be a world renowned super detective. Kanji certainly knew how to pick 'em, didn't he? The one friend he was finally able to make was just an undercover cop who basically had to be his friend. Christ, was he really that terrible of a person that no one else would ever even dream of befriending him?

Now he was just playing stupid, Kanji knew very well just who he was talking about. They had been hanging out yesterday after school for goodness sake. And he better not even try to say that wasn't hanging out, they were eating and laughing, that qualified as hanging out. "Who do you think I'm talking about; those two boys, pretty inn keeper's daughter, and eccentric brunette of course." He was going to have to learn their names at some point for it sounded awfully ignorant to refer to them by hair color. The Inn in Inaba was run by the Amagi family so the girl had to be…Yukiko? But that was about all he knew about her. The other three were completely unknown considering a murder had not occurred at their homes. "I mean really, why bother wasting time talking to me when they're clearly so much lovelier." He remarked, sarcasm dripping from every word. But after the words came out, and he noted the strange expression on Kanji's face, he knew he had chosen the wrong adjective for the sentence. Cooler would have been a far better choice; lovelier just made him sound like a love struck idiot when he clearly was not.

Kanji was not exactly sure just how he was supposed to respond to this sudden bitterness. This was no longer just some stupid fight to Naoto; he was actually being emotionally injured. Although the black clad boy knew that he should feel proud, and victorious, he only felt as though he was going to be sick. As much as it horrified him the local punk did find Naoto to be lovely. He found him to be the wittiest, most charming individual that he had ever had the good fortune of laying eyes on. But he couldn't think that, he was not allowed to think anything of the sort. He was straight; always had been, always would be. So then, why did his heart flip in his chest cavity whenever the cobalt haired boy was around? Why did he want to take back everything he had just said, wrap his arms protectively around the small boy, and tell the rest of the world to just screw off? He had no answers for those questions; or, at least, none that he would admit to. Instead he just projected his insecurities in the form of yet another insult. "Since when did you decide you were lovely, toughen up for chrissake! Be a man!"

He just did not understand; no one did. The daily lies he was forced to live with in order to attempt to level the playing field. If only he knew, if only they all knew, maybe then they could start to understand. But no one, other than his grandfather and those who had been at the Shirogane estate for over ten years, would ever know just what he was keeping from them. If people found out he could kiss his reputation, and career, goodbye. "Just leave me alone!" The boy yelled with that little strength he had left before sinking behind window. Resting his back against the bit of wall that resided under the open glass he stuck his face in his hands and tried to keep it together. Tears were now leaking out at an alarmingly fast rate and he was determined to make them stop at all costs. Naoto tried everything from biting his lip, to humming an upbeat tune, to picturing himself solving a crime alongside of his literary heroes; but nothing worked. Instead he just whispered softly to himself between silent sobs. "I-I wanna be a big boy…right now."

"Naoto! Hey, Naoto!" It had been a few minutes since the boy had disappeared and Kanji was beginning to wonder if he had left the room. Had he really gotten so upset that he had stormed off? Oh man, this was a disaster; what if he was crying? The kid was far too sensitive for his own good; but perhaps that was what girls were into these days? On the daytime television shows his mother watched the consensus was always that they wanted someone sensitive. He was going to throw another stone when a faint sound made its way down from the window. It sounded like it could have possibly been a voice but he was not quite sure. "…Naoto?" Kanji inquired, a hint of worry in his voice; though he had no clue why it was there, he was the one who had inflicted this pain on his now ex-friend after all. When there was still no reply he figured that the boy was merely blowing him off. Ugh, well that was cool, if he didn't want to talk anymore than the bleach haired boy would find something better to do with his time. "Well fine then! I guess I WILL just go hang out with them!" If Naoto ever wanted to talk again he could come find him, but there was no way in hell that he was ever going back to the stupid Shirogane estate.

So that was it, he was going to see them. Of course, they looked like so much fun. "See if I care you stupid boy." Naoto mumbled as he began to twiddle his fingers nervously; for he did care, very much so. What did those students have that he did not? Sure they laughed more than he did, but he had a very good sense of humor…it just happened to leave him every now and then. But he certainly could laugh if he remembered to. And those girls, so what if they were pretty? As his fingers toyed with the ends of his chin length locks he almost considered the possibility of growing it out. But that would just look foolish. Could you imagine; the Detective Prince, known across the globe for his ability to solve extremely challenging cases, sporting long hair? Why the very notion was simply ridiculous! But if it made him seem more- no, no he had to remove such crazy thoughts from his head. He had worked so hard to appear as he did, why bother changing now? The outside world was, by no means, an accepting one; so he had altered himself to fit in, what was so wrong with that?

Moving onto his knees the boy turned slightly and tipped his head upwards. Two oceanic orbs glanced over the top of the wall and through the bottom of the open window. As he peeked out, ready to drop back to the ground if Kanji's eyes were still trained on the window, he caught sight of something that both relieved and saddened him. There, a good ways off, was his ex-friend. He was storming off, and probably cursing quite loudly, for where ever he went the nearby animals seemed to evacuate from. His face faltered a bit, but it was better this way. Their friendship could never work; he was a detective, Kanji was a punk, he liked to read, Kanji liked to break things, he liked tea, and Kanji liked trouble; it was definitely not a match made in heaven. Well, not unless cupid was seriously drunk when he sent off some arrows. But saying it like that made it sound as if they were in love; and lovers did not fight one another. Sure they had some lover's quarrels; but the battle between Naoto and Kanji was a hateful one, not some silly little argument over which dishes to buy.

"Oh kanji, why did you have to find out." With an exasperated sigh the petite boy flopped back down on his bed. If only he had not torn up Mr. Watson to make his getaway; sure it was worth the sacrifice then, but boy, could he use a hug right now. And that was a very manly thing to say; it took a very tough person to admit when they needed a hug from their favorite childhood stuffed animal. He was a man, a big strong man, so Kanji could just shut up and mind his own beeswax. Ripping his pillow out from behind his head the Detective Prince proceeded to cover his face with it and scream until his lungs were sore once more. It seemed like all he could do at this point; he was going to explode if he didn't let out his misery some way. Choking back another fit of sobs the boy attempted to reassure himself. Maybe things had not worked out with Kanji, but certainly he would make a friend someday. And not just any friend, but a real friend who would not leave him for something as stupid as his job as a detective.

There was a sudden rapping on the door and Naoto swore his heart almost stopped. Someone must have heard all the commotion and be coming to check on him. Rocketing up from the bed he hurried to his full length mirror and cringed at what he saw. Messy hair, pale skin, baggy eyes, and now tear stained cheeks. Well that was just grand; he looked like a teenage girl after she had stayed up all night crying over a break up and watching sappy movies like Titanic. Surely this was not how he wanted to start the morning. Slapping his cheeks a bit he attempted to bring some color back to them. How dreadful, he gave the impression of being ill when he was physically in great health. The tear marks were easily wiped off but he was not sure what he could do about the bags. Normally he would have tried splashing some cold water on his face but that meant entering his bathroom and, although it was connected to his room, the water would alert the outside person of the fact that he was awake. Two knocks later and the main housekeeper himself entered the room to see a tired looking Naoto climbing out of bed. "Young master is everything alright in there? I thought I heard a noise."

xx

"That arrogant little punk… to think, I came all the way here to try to work it out…ugh!" He really had wanted an explanation, but it just seemed so much easier to lash out at the boy. To let everything that he was feeling take control and, when the chance for a fight occurred, he more than readily jumped on board. Stupid, stupid, stupid, now their friendship was really over for good. God, this hurt even more than when his first girlfriend called him creepy for fixing her purse, that ungrateful little girl. But why was this so painful? And, for that matter, why did he even want to attempt to work everything out between the two of them? They were never going to be friends, it was impossible. He was a troublemaker, Naoto was a detective, he liked to fight things out, Naoto apparently liked to cry, he hated rules, and Naoto lived for them. In just about every situation that arose the two were as different as night and day. Sure everyone always said that opposites attract but no one actually believes any of that nonsense. If you're fighting all the time than what's the point of even being together?

"Geez, Naoto, why did you have to jump on me before I could even say anything?" Perhaps it was his fault, he should have just said he was sorry right from the get go instead of calling him out like that; people were always more inclined to apologize if they had been apologized to first. But even if he had there was no way of knowing for certain if Naoto would have even accepted the apology; and if he did not than boy would he have looked like an idiot. What was he apologizing for though? He didn't do anything wrong. Judging from how quickly the boy wanted to dismiss him he clearly was not missing their friendship. Unless… he had gotten awfully testy when the subject of his senpai was brought up. And, now that he really took some time to think about it, how did he knew that Kanji had made new friends in the first place? Was he spying on him, or was he under police surveillance and didn't even know it? No way, not even a liar would sink so low as to stalk a former friend. That is, of course, unless he was not the real target at all. What if what Naoto wanted all along was access to this elite group and the knowledge they had? What if, from the very start, he planned on using Kanji to get to them?

The boy shook his head reluctantly. That was nonsense; there was no possible way that Naoto could have known that Kanji was going to be kidnapped and thrown into that television. It was just preposterous. But something certainly was up and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Or, at least, see what became of their fighting condition. Messing with the interworking of the police department could lead to jail time rather than just the slap on the wrist he normally received. Part of him was exhausted despite it only being the late morning, but the other part was curious as to what the silver haired boy and his team were up to. So fine, if Naoto wanted him to go spend some quality time with his new 'friends' then so be it. He would have a smashingly good time, enjoy himself to his fullest potential, laugh with his new comrades, and possibly kick some evil shadow-thing butt as well. The Detective Prince could have fun doing whatever it was child prodigies did, but right now he was heading to Junes to see if the group of kids were there.

* * *

**A/N:** So this is sorta blah…sorry. It's been snowing a lot and I'm not sure why but precipitation always makes me feel pretty down. Rain is gross and ruins picnics, snow is a pain to move, sleet is yucky, and hail is just painful…but at least I made my deadline haha

**Next Chapter:** Here's to the nights! A class trip to Port Island? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. But, considering they've both had more than ample time to cool off, what type of uncomfortably awkward situations await our young heroes?


	7. Here's to the Nights

**A/N:** Ohhh I'm so sorry that I'm late with this. My laptop got a virus which ate my games, my music, and most of my pictures and word documents. Thankfully I had the majority of my pictures and documents on backup disks and my USB, and my music could be restored by imputing it from my ipod, but I lost my first copy of this chapter. I tried to recall most of it but it's not as good as the original and it's been driving me craaaaaaazy. Also my robotics team had a competition in Chesapeake so that took up a few days. I hope you all had a nice few weeks and, once again, I'm sorry for being late.

Ra'iira: I'm happy you like it so much; that means a lot to me.

SVD: I'm so glad it's a bit easier to read now; I'm trying to get better in that aspect of my writing.

Smallbell: Oh! I didn't know that, I'm sorry, but thank you for telling me. I guess I should have googled it before I added that line ^^"

* * *

_So denied, so I lied, are you the now or never kind?  
In a day, and a day love, I'm gonna be gone for good again.  
Are you willing to be had, are you cool with just tonight?  
Here's a toast to all those who hear me all too well._

_-Eve 6_

**Here's to the Nights**

Since their dispute back in late June Naoto had experienced a few brief encounters with Kanji and his new friends. The first was in mid-July; he was running an errand for Yakushiji when he spotted them sitting together on one of the outdoor tables at Junes. From his observations the group seemed to have adopted the former idol Rise 'Risette' Kugikawa. According to the local news she was just on a temporary break, but that was most likely her manager's way of phrasing the fact that she had been replaced. Normally he would have pitied the girl, a life in the spotlight was always quite difficult to lead, but that day she had been sitting across from Kanji and batting those long eyelashes of hers, the nerve, so all empathy he may have possessed had flown right out the window. Originally he considered just passing by them as if he did not notice the group but, once he got within ear range of the teenagers, their conversation instantly stirred his interest. They were talking about investigating the death of Mr. Morooka; as if they could really do something the authorities could not, how foolish. Pausing beside their table for a moment he politely informed the ignorant children that it would not be necessary, after all the police already had a suspect; one who they were positive was the killer. Being almost thoughtful he even let it slip that the culprit was a high school student, though he did not attend Yasogami High.

However, he made the mistake of referring to their little hero quest as a 'game'. Both Yosuke, he had done some research over the past month on the boy whose father managed Junes, and Rise lashed out. Sure Yosuke had a right to be upset but really now, the brunette had just joined forces with them, who was she to be speaking up so boldly? He had lost his footing after that and was seriously considering just going back to his task when Yosuke decided to go so far as to poke fun at him. 'What, did they get rid of you now that they have their man? Is that why you came here? You were lonely?' Ugh, how juvenile and irritating. But he would not start a fight again; so he merely informed these fools of the truth: that detectives normally are not involved with arrests, nor do they ever harbor any special emotions regarding a case. Although he may have gone a bit too far for Naoto even admitted that he was a tad disappointed that people were only attentive as long as a detective's services were required. At that Kanji's eyes had dropped and, for a moment, he thought that the black clad boy was going to say something…but he didn't. Of course not; he no longer cared at all for the Detective Prince. Not wanting to stay and be made the fool again he promptly turned and made his exit.

Somewhere during the course of the next few weeks the culprit that the police seemed so intent on blaming for the past three murders disappeared from the station. The whole situation was extremely peculiar seeing as how he had been in a locked interrogation room. Just what kind of evil mastermind was this child to have broken out of a guarded room without alerting anyone or even opening the air vents on the ceiling? It was almost as if he had evaporated into thin air. However, not more than a week later, the mysterious disappearance was matched by an even more baffling reappearance. He just sort of materialized in front of the station one evening, hands bound and mouth gagged. Though Adachi claimed that he had been working the late shift and did not see anyone drop off the boy Naoto had his own theories; all of which involved that troublesome group of kids. Though he was clueless as to their methods whatever these students were doing certainly was efficient or, at least, proved to be more valuable than the efforts of Dojima's absent minded sidekick. Just how on earth did he become an officer in the first place? Honestly, one look at the man and any real criminal would laugh out loud.

When the end of the normal summer session rolled around his grandfather presented the cobalt haired boy with two options. One: now that the criminal was caught, and awaiting trial, he could return to their town house and take up his lessons with the private tutors once more. Or two: he could attend Yasogami High and remain at their main estate. As much as he despised the very idea of public schooling something deep down told Naoto that the case was not yet finished. All the pieces did not fall into place and, if he left now, his absence would be pure neglect. So he reluctantly chose to stay and attend the horrid children filled classes. At least he could demonstrate to the other students how superior a one on one homeschooling was to a group education. So, donning a new Yasogami male uniform, he stood by the main gate early Thursday morning, September first, and pondered whether or not he had made the right decision. For a moment the Detective Prince considered turning around and informing grandfather that he had change his mind; the town house sounded positively delightful. But, as he looked behind him, he found the usual annoyances standing there. Well Chie, Yukiko, Soji, and Yosuke could all just bug off; he wasn't backing down, especially not in front of the likes of them. With an ever so nauseatingly sweet smile he informed the group that, as of that day, he would now be a first year student at their high school.

The first day of public school was not nearly as miserable as he assumed it would be. But that's just the thing about assuming; you normally turn out to be completely wrong. Unless of course you assume that a juvenile delinquent is nothing but a troublemaker who likes to crush people's feelings just for the hell of it, that would entirely correct. However he wasn't still bitter about that, oh no, of course not. Besides if he wanted to make new friends to show Kanji up then he could do it in a heartbeat. In fact, right after class two girls approached him with offers of friendship. Sure they were only interested in the more intimate form of boyfriend girlfriend friendship but that was hardly the point; the offer was still there. The fact that he declined it was entirely because they were just superficial girls; he certainly was not holding out in the hopes that the bleach haired boy would come around and make everything better. After he dismissed the girls the Shirogane boy was going to head home when the entire crew ganged up on him. At first he figured they were going to take his lunch money or something, but instead they invited him to hang out with them. As if, he didn't need their pity; with a tip of his cap he politely declined their offer and brushed past them towards the exit.

On the eight of September, seven days into the new school year, there was to be a class trip to Tatsumi Port Island. What exactly made the teachers feel as if this was a good idea right after summer vacation was still a mystery but it was not like he had any intention of going. Rather, he had no intention until his grandfather reminded him that school was going to be a very lonely place without human interaction. Even then he was reluctant…but the old man was quite persistent and even threatened to reinstall those dreadful looking bars. So he had agreed to the expedition into tourism land, but only if he could stay in one of the cities' more high class hotels. Not that he was spoiled, they were just more homelike and rooming with a classmate would be a disaster. Spending time with his peers in general was going to be a painful experience so, truth be told, he planned on ditching the entire student body from the get go. However, something prompted him to show up the first day anyway; not necessarily a bad decision, he got to listen to a lecture about mythology that was actually quite enlightening.

xx

The second day of the trip he was given the night off for 'free time' as they called it. Yes, that was exactly the thing to do; give a school's worth of teenagers the night off to just go crazy in an unfamiliar city. What was wrong with these people, had they no common sense? Were they really idiotic enough to believe that these children would get into no trouble what-so-ever when left unattended for hours at a time? No wonder he had no real respect for the members of the school staff; not that he would ever let on that he did not mind you, that would be incredibly rude and, as a Shirogane, he strove to always be polite. In order to make sure his fellow classmates were not misbehaving the cadet cap wearing boy strolled down to Paulownia Mall and, more specifically, to the Club Escapade. According to the local officials, who he had taken the liberty of getting in touch with the moment he arrived, there were multiple incidents involving teenagers about a year ago and he was not going to let the students of Yasogami High become another set of victims. Naoto considered it his civic duty to make sure everyone was behaving themselves and not giving Inaba a bad name.

As he stepped ever so gracefully down the club's stairs his oceanic orbs caught sight of a sickeningly familiar sight and he nearly tumbled down the remaining steps. There they were, in the middle of a club, on a Friday night. Oh yes, that was exactly the place that a group of freaking high school students should be! Good lord, their parents would be ashamed! Scanning the group for one person in particular the boy for whom he was searching instantly turned around so that he was no longer facing Naoto; how fitting. "Is it permitted for high school students such as yourselves to be here?" He inquired in a painfully condescending tone. Sure he expected to find a few rambunctious boys, or flirty girls who had clung to an older city dweller's arm, in such a place, but certainly not these seven. Seven, that's right, there was one more of them now. A blonde haired boy with a dreadfully innocent expression; but he was no student of Yasogami High, that was for sure. Just where had they picked him up? As he was pondering this the brunette boy offered up some answer to his question, but Naoto wasn't really listening. Kanji still had not turned around, a little over dramatic, no? But fine, if he was that uncomfortable then the Detective Prince would take his leave. After all, that seemed to be all he was good for these days. Before he could turn however the black haired Amagi girl invited him to stay and 'hang out' with them for the remainder of the evening. He was a bit taken aback but…it might offer some insight into their little operation. With a light sigh he nodded in acceptance of her offer; it wasn't as if he had any other plans anyways.

Now Kanji had spent the last few months of his life trying desperately to clear his mind of the cobalt haired boy; but it had all been a giant waste of time. No matter what he did the petite figure loomed like a haunting force in the back of his mind, Naoto's delicate yet stern voice constantly echoing in his ears. So the kid thought that he was nothing more than an 'idiotic delinquent', if memory served correctly; well fine, if the damn detective wanted to think that then he could just go right ahead. He was keeping out of trouble and, as a matter of fact, he was even serving the greater good! But the mighty Detective Prince could never learn about that; what a shame, he might even be jealous of such noble intentions. But that was a thought for a later time; right now his face was beginning to become a bit flushed from the sudden appearance of his ex-friend. In a desperate attempt to conceal the now obvious blush he turned his head away and tried to ignore the Shirogane boy's presence. It seemed to be going well too…until Yosuke called him on it, goddamn him. Thankfully the less than deductive boy merely inquired as to if he had some form of stomach pains "Th-That ain't it." But even he wasn't exactly sure as to what the true culprit behind his quickly deepening blush could possibly be.

xx

The fact that this Risette character could reserve the entire second floor of a night club in a matter of minutes was a tad alarming. What sort of a place was this that it catered to the whims of a teenage girl? Sure she was famous but that sort of reasoning would hardly stand up in court. Or maybe it would, perhaps the judge too would exclaim 'oh look! Risette! Let's all do whatever we can to make her life a dream come true.' That damn brunette girl was just so annoying! And not only was she annoying, she was idiotic, talkative, flirtatious, stylish, and pretty. The pop star was so much better than Naoto in every single way, so much so that it hurt just to think about how greatly she surpassed the cadet cap wearing boy. Of course kanji had wanted to sit across from her that day at Junes; who wouldn't want to gaze upon one so flawless? It was as if god had decided that those two other girls, who were also quite appealing in their own ways, were not bad enough already. Why oh why had he gone and thrown a model into the mix?

What was Naoto doing here, really? This was supposed to be a fun night out with a few close friends and now he was going to have to sit through a goddamn interrogation. The others might be blissfully unaware to the cobalt haired boy's true intentions but Kanji certainly knew what was up. There was no way that this could possibly be a coincidence, could it? No, of course not, life did not work like that; not to mention the fact that the Detective Prince was far too clever than to leave things up to chance. But had he been following their group around all day? Surely they would have noticed him before now. Only one question plagued his mind; how did the pipsqueak get in the club before them? As his mind reeled the blonde haired bear, now in human form of course, said something that sounded a bit off. "Dude… You sound even weirder today…" It was so strange, his speech was slurred and his breathing had become quite heavy. He knew this sort of behavior quite well by now. But no, there was just no way; Teddie couldn't possibly be drunk, could he?

Morons, they were all morons. All these idiotic students had been drinking was tonic, as well as a few other normal un-alcoholic beverages here and there, and now three of them had begun to laugh their heads off as if they had just downed an ungodly amount of liquor. Did they have any idea how foolish they looked? Of course not, they were too caught up in the moment, but goodness perhaps he should just take his leave now. Heavens forbid someone see him with them; there goes his dream career. However, now that he thought about it, 'drunk' students were more likely to spill secrets about certain murder cases than sober ones. "Kanjiiii!" Called a shrill voice and Naoto glanced upwards in shock at the sudden outburst. "Get the chopsticks ready!" Well what a demanding little girl that Rise Kugikawa was, who could ever like someone like that? She was just so arrogant and ugh, how dare she boss Kanji around like that? Hadn't she been taught any manners while growing up? No, she had probably been spoiled rotten since the moment she was born. He truly despised people like that but, even more so; he despised those who assumed that the Detective Prince had been born with a gold spoon in his mouth. He had worked so terribly hard to get where he was today; and what had this girl done, wear a bikini and smile?

"Wha-!? Why me…?" As much as it pained him to think it this Risette chick was really starting to get on his nerves. She was always acting like a little diva, cooing 'ooh senpai I love you' and other nonsense. Geez, she just needed to grow up, and soon, or else reality was going to hit her like a freight train. Of course that wasn't really fair, if she liked Soji than she had a right to express it; so what if Kanji was just a tad jealous of that right, so what if he wanted to feel free to tell anyone that he liked them, so what if he wanted desperately not to give a damn about what anyone else thought? Those were all just petty, and terribly silly, desires; they would never become a reality, ever. However he still reserved the right to dislike the fact that she was treating him like a dog in front of the one person he wanted to impress. It would have been less embarrassing if the pigtail wearing girl had simply clapped her hands and said 'fetch boy'. But he figured he wouldn't pick a fight, that would make him appear quite unstable and Naoto would definitely attempt to read into his actions which would just be a total disaster. So, with a loud sigh of annoyance, he headed downstairs to get the girl her stupid chopsticks.

Drawing chopsticks to see if he had acquired the one with a red crown, oh yes, this was certainly what he wanted to be doing on his Friday evening. Good lord, were these children really so dull? He had heard such wondrous stories of teenage parties and dancing, not that he wanted to do any of that nonsense mind you; did they really just want to play some make-believe king game? This was going to be even less exciting than watching late night lifetime movies with his grandfather in an attempt to 'strengthen their relationship' through 'family bonding time'. "Teddie's is red! Red! Is Teddie the King!?" So the blonde's name was Teddie... and he enjoyed using third person...of course, nothing surprised him anymore. "I, the King, command thee to smooch the King without delay!" Naoto felt his heart skip a beat, and his face drop in shock, so maybe something could still surprise him. This was that sort of game? Oh no, he needed to get back to his hotel room, this was so not for him. He adored books, solitude, and light classical music; not watching people invade one another's personal space while extremely loud techno music destroyed his eardrums.

Kanji felt his hands tighten nervously at the blonde's words. So Teddie was the first king and he wanted a kiss, no big deal; that was all fine and dandy as long as he did not call on Naoto. Not that he assumed the boy would, and not that he really cared or anything, it would just be weird. After all, who would want to kiss Naoto? He was so annoying, arrogant, conceited, uptight, little, bratty, soft-spoken, kind, sweet, and innocent; totally not what anyone was looking for. "Please God… Grant me a girl! Number 3!" He looked anxiously at Naoto who seemed to breathe out a small sigh of relief. So Teddie didn't get the cobalt haired boy, thank goodness. Had that occurred he would have been forced to speak up in protest… but only on Teddie's behalf mind you. Kissing Naoto was a fate which he would not wish upon even his most despised enemy. When after a minute no one had moved Kanji decided to glance down at his own stick, just to casually see which number he had. The carefree look on his face instantly fell however when he saw the number 3. This was going to be a long night.

xx

"Ahahaha, me next! Me! I'm the King! Actually, the Queen!" The black haired, and fair skinned, Yukiko shouted loudly. That had become sort of custom by now; a person would draw the winning stick, gasp, then scream at the top of their lungs. Unfortunately, the Amagi girl had not drawn a chopstick; she merely got called to give their leader a hug, laid on his lap in a very unladylike manner, and declared herself the next king. Apparently the whole basis of the game was no longer important and it had become a free for all, great just great. "Alright, then… Let's have someone talk about something really embarrassing that they'd never wanna tell anyone!" The young woman continued, giggling hysterically to herself as she glanced from person to person. Oh how he wished that his friends could act a bit more presentable when Naoto was around. "Hrmmm, let's see… Ah! Naoto-kun! I choose you!" Now that was just unnecessary; the kid was dreadfully quiet and terribly reserved to begin with. The bleach haired delinquent considered speaking up on the petite boy's behalf and saying that he, by no means, had to do it. But, once more, Yosuke beat him to it, goddamn it.

So he was finally being called on, alright, he could take opening up a bit as opposed to degrading himself like the others. You know what they say: if you can't stand the heat don't play the King's game; or something like that, he may have been confusing a few words but it mattered little. "No… No, that won't be necessary. One stipulation, though: If I do this, the rest of you must reveal "something" as well." It was a long shot but, if they were as 'drunk' as they were acting then, perhaps, they would agree to such terms. If they did not then there was nothing lost, but they certainly would not gain anything either. His lips remained sealed until one of the students acknowledged his offer. The brunette diva beside him shook her head ferociously up and down; well she certainly seemed willing enough. He would take this as an agreed group consensus and, before anyone could say otherwise, he began speaking once more. "No particularly embarrassing experiences come to mind… Would discussing my life be fair game? It's the rare situation like this that gives me call to speak of such things."

"Damn… Way to kill the mood…" Ugh Yosuke could just shut the hell up. If Naoto was finally going to open up then heck, he was more than willing to listen. The kid had been so secretive from the moment they first met; it was Kanji's right to hear the truth. It was… exactly what he had asked for that day. He had stood in this bratty little boy's yard, screaming at him from below a window, demanding exactly this. Naoto had been so guarded, so angry; it was truly a wondrous thing that he agreed to this so readily. Just what was he up to now? He had to have some secret agenda; after all, ulterior motives were the conniving little boy's specialty. Yes, that had to be it, there was just no way he had experienced a change of heart. It couldn't be that the Detective Prince actually wanted to tell him, or his new group of comrades, any of this. Or did he? Was the cobalt haired boy possibly attempting to atone for his past mistake? No, that was silly; he had no idea that Yukiko would ask such an intimate thing. But still, something deep down inside told the delinquent that this brief autobiography was meant for his ears alone.

With a slight sigh the orphan boy shut his eyes lightly and pondered exactly where he should begin. These simple suburban children had no idea just how powerful his family was in the world of crime fighters, so perhaps he should begin with a brief overview of his heritage? "The Shirogane family has been detectives for generations now. We lend our powers to the police from time to time." He had barely begun when Chie so rudely interrupted him. She appeared to be alluding to obscure ninja movie reference that even she could not quite recall; splendid, she certainly was a very clever girl. With a short lived cough, which worked quite well in drawing the group's focus back on himself, Naoto pressed forward. "In days gone by, when there were no crime scene investigators, consulting detectives were considered more valuable. Thus, my grandfather still has a strong connection with the police and looks after me, despite my youth and inexperience. But investigators nowadays are well versed in science and medicine, so I must further my studies." There, a condensed version that did not reveal too much about his personal life and expressed in such layman's terms that even Rise should be able to comprehend it.

Naoto's speech was followed by a brief moment of silence for it seemed as if no one could think of anything worthwhile to actually say to the child who had been pressured into adulthood far too quickly."That sounds tough…" Yosuke finally manages with a slight, and reassuring, nod of the head. Jesus, since when had Hanamura been such a talker? He knew nothing about Naoto; so why was he responding to everything the boy said and did? Not that Kanji wanted to come to the cadet cap wearing boy's rescue all the time as if he were some locked away princess, stuck high up in a tower living in fear of the killer beast below. The punk was exactly that, a delinquent with a hot temper and an unpleasant lexicon to match. He wasn't about to change himself into an armor wearing knight to go vanquish this child's dragon of uncertainty. But, as much as he hated to admit it, the brunette was right. The Shirogane child's tale sure did sound like one bitch of a ride. In fact he was actually beginning to feel pretty bad for being so damn mean to the kid. "…That's it? No punch line?" So much for Yosuke suddenly becoming deep; of course there was no punch line, this wasn't a game this was real life.

"Ahm… I fear you may be looking to the wrong person for that." The Detective Prince stated calmly, repressing the urge to lash out at the idiotic notion. So he was looking for a punch line, alright, how about 'and my parents died in a car crash when I was a child. My mother's skull slammed into the window with enough force to shatter everything from the os frontale to the os parietale while my father merely suffered from massive internal bleeding and lasted a few more drawn-out hours in surgery.' Would that work? Was that the knowledge this pampered heir was questing for? He didn't think so. Some people just needed to learn when to hold their tongues and others; well they needed to learn when to speak up. His oceanic orbs focused themselves on the hostile teenager across the table. From observing kanji's face the junior sleuth concluded that he still seemed to be processing the information he had just been given, lovely. The one time that he could have actually used the bleach haired boy backing him up he was just sitting there like a bump on a log. People really were useless or, at least, these children were.

"That's sooo embarrassing! Isn't Naoto-kun embarrassing?" Kanji resisted the powerful urge to slam his head against the wall as Yukiko-sempai broke into another fit of giggles. Someone seriously had to shut that girl up; if she could only hear what she was saying, good god, the normally proper young lady would die of embarrassment. Yosuke muttered something about wanting to go home and the Tatsumi boy was more than in agreement. This entire night was a destined to be a disaster from the get-go. He could just feel Naoto's contempt for the group growing with each passing moment. Well that was just fine, great even. It wasn't as if he was dying for the cobalt haired group to join them at Junes or on the school roof. There was absolutely no way that he ever wanted them to hang out after class and skip rocks again. Besides, if he joined them on those instances than he might begin to take part on their other worldly excursions and that would be terrible. There was no way that the small little back talker could hold his own in a real fight, he was all talk and no game; besides, what would he use for a weapon?

"Well then, it's your turn now." He had released information, upheld his part of the agreement, and now it was their turn. He could go for the sly approach; pretend to ask a seemingly irrelevant question then catch them off guard with a quick follow up. But no, Dojima-san's nephew would see that coming a mile away. The gray haired boy's eyes seemed to hold a well of knowledge, it really was a shame that he appeared to be practically mute. Honestly, how did he expect people to appreciate his thoughts if he did not bring forth the effort to put them on the table? Would two words every now and then be such a difficult task? The Detective Prince hated talking and here he was, spilling truths about his past that not even the servants at the Shirogane estate knew the details of. This Soji character could at least try to make some sort of an effort in participating in the conversation. No matter, Naoto would not waste a second more of his precious time pondering the boy's silence; instead he would just inquire flat out, no tricks or mind games. "A straight answer, please. What is your true involvement with the murder case?"

Oh, too forward, there was no way any of them were going to spill, Naoto had to know that. Just what angle was he playing? Surely he could not have such little respect for the group that he figured they would just go blabbing all their secrets because he asked politely. "You know, you're so good at killing the mood that it's almost funny…" Yosuke once again spoke up before he did; goodness that kid quick with words. He had never given Hanamura credit for it before but he was actually pretty clever…sometimes. Kanji just sort of assumed that the conversation was ending, and that the Detective Prince's question had been completely shrugged off, when he noted a sickeningly sweet smile spreading on the lips of the boy across from him. Sure the Shirogane boy's eyes were gleaming but his expression was almost victorious. It was just absurd, what could he have possibly learned from Yosuke's comment? He had said nothing about their secret after school expeditions. But the boy's Cheshire grin just continued to grow. Of course it was barely noticeable compared to a normal person's grin but, considering the cobalt haired boy rarely did anything more than look stoic, this smile was gigantic in Kanji's opinion. The reason for such a feeling of accomplishment became quite apparent when a certain inn heiress started playing with her hair and glancing at Naoto from her seat next to Teddie on the couch.

"Weeeeell," The raven haired girl started, her speech slurring a bit as her head moved slowly back and forth as if it were loaded to the brim with bricks. This was wonderful; he had assumed Risette would be the one foolish enough to answer, but a response from the normally levelheaded Yukiko was so much more trustworthy. "We go rescuing people who've been kidnapped by jumping into the TV!" …Idiots, all of them. How did he ever let himself become foolish enough to believe that these children, mere children, were moving in secret behind the police force's backs and working towards actually solving the mysterious murder cases on their own? But, was there possibly some truth to this statement? After all, they had gone missing that day in an electronics department. Electronics meant gigantic television screens that were pretty close to the ground. Surely a student could fit through one no problem- No that was truly and utterly moronic. Of course people didn't fall through televisions! That was absurd, idiotic, and just ridiculous. If anything it sounded like a rejected idea from The Twilight Zone; and that show didn't reject much. "And theeen, we do stuff like, "Persona!" with our Personas and beat the crap outta Shadows…"

Oh crud, oh crud, what was she saying? Was Yukiko really that drunk that she had lost all hope of having a filter? Sure she was always a bit of an airhead but this could jeopardize everything they had been working so hard to achieve! That stupid girl; ugh he half wanted to strangle her, anything to shut the intoxicated older girl up. Naoto couldn't know that stuff, he just couldn't! God, if he even began to believe any of this was true he'd be home within the hour and jumping through a t.v. to go find himself a killer; and that was not safe! It was terribly dangerous in there and there was no way in hell he was gonna let the kid go in on his own-or in at all for that matter! The land on the other side of the television screen was a truly horrid place and he knew firsthand what terrible things it could do to people. If the Detective Prince went in there who knew what might happen. He had been so good at concealing the fact that he was with the police force, just what other secrets could this child possibly be hiding? With any luck they could remain his and not be publicized on late night television like Kanji's had been.

With a loud and drawn out sigh Naoto stared blankly at the students surrounding him. In his opinion there was only one explanation for the obvious lie. "Are you making fun of me?" They had to be; they knew how important his work was to him and now they were using that fact to poke fun at the cobalt haired boy. Well fine, that would certainly be the last time that he opened up to anybody, male or female. His scowl traveled from person to person as he tried to decide just who he was more upset with, them for mocking him, or himself for allowing his defenses to take a momentary break. When the look reached the sleeping Risette she rocketed upwards at an alarmingly fast speed and her fist shot into the air in a classic victory stance. If only she knew just how close the real victor was; in fact he was sitting right beside her. The famous Risette would have to laugh at the irony. Or not, in fact it might go right over her pretty little head even if, by some slim chance, she did actually know what irony was. Naoto was going to come out on top of all this with or without their co-operation. He considered pulling the girl back down before she made a scene but before he could even move the pigtail wearing girl started yelling about the truth in Yukiko's statement… then proceeded to collapse once more. Idiots, there wasn't a single one in the group with the IQ of even a normal human being.

Oh no, they weren't poking fun at the boy. But, of course, that was a perfectly reasonable assumption. Two of the girls had just admitted to being part of an effort to stop a murderer who moved via t.v. If someone tried to tell him that before his kidnapping he probably would have punched them square in the face for screwing with him. The only problem about the fact that they were telling Naoto the truth was that Kanji could never admit to it. He would have to deny all that Yukiko and Rise had just said and, by doing that, he would only be adding more evidence to the Detective Prince's theory that the group was simply lying to him. What a predicament the bleach haired boy found himself in; this was easily one of the worst nights of his life. Maybe he could fake stomach pains, like the ones Yosuke had inquired about earlier, and make his getaway before things got too unbearable. However, as much as his mind was begging him to flee delinquent could not bring his body to actually move. Leaving now would be as good as saying that he didn't care about Naoto in the slightest and was more than willing to let the boy fend for himself. And, as much as he wanted to have that sort of emotional freedom, a part of him was still clinging to the hope that they might find a way to resolve their issues.

"…I see now that you had no intention of telling me the truth." Or, perhaps, had they said something more than they meant to by accident? He would have to take apart Miss Amagi's statement later in his hotel room. Thank goodness that he was not rooming in the same place, let alone the same district, as these morons. Naoto really was beginning to feel as if stupidity was contagious. With any luck his former friend had yet to be infected by their idiotic nature. Kanji really had downgraded as far as he saw it. The Detective Prince was quite a catch, for friend purposes only of course; after all, he was more observant, cautious, and a better listener than most people. But perhaps the delinquent was the type who valued quantity over quality, a pity. Or maybe, just maybe, he was still oblivious as to just how foolish they really were. No matter, the truth would be brought to light soon enough. Clearing his throat the boy stared down, metaphorically of course for the boy was a great deal taller than the vertically challenged Naoto, at Kanji while addressing the rest of the group. "But I'm curious… How did you become so inebriated? This isn't alcohol."

"Good one, Naoto!" Yukiko exclaimed with a loud and over the top laugh. Obviously she did not believe what Naoto had just said. But… it actually sort of made sense; who would give liquor to a group of kids? Sure they had not been carded upon entry to the establishment but if Rise had been here not that long ago then the club's owners had to have a rough estimate of her age. Surely some who worked here had to be a fan and know that the great Risette was still a minor. Ugh, this was getting awkward fast. Once more the Detective Prince seemed to have bested him, it was truly pitiful. He was so much bigger, stronger, and fearsome then this pipsqueak; yet no matter what he did the cobalt haired boy was better. And, on top of that, he beat Kanji without even trying. The smug look that now covered the boy's face said it all. His mental capabilities placed him above average teenagers in every way shape and form, and he knew it. Oh did he know it, and he was using that unfair advantage to mock them. But the black clad boy decided that it could be worse, he could have been trumped by a girl.

"No, I confirmed it when I first entered. No alcohol has been served here since a rash of drunk driving last year." He shot back, his eyes glazing over in what appeared to be boredom. Were they really so moronic as to believe that the staff here would serve them any form of liquor? Truthfully it was the reason that he first came in after all. According to the police reports there were a series of drunken driving incidents in the not so far past due to this club serving minors and, seeing as how it had been an intoxicated driver that slammed into his parent's car, he was particularly sensitive to the subject and decided to investigate for himself. The club seemed to have done a wonderful job of cleaning up their act though so he could not complain. But god only knows that if they had even dreamed of actually serving Risette and her friends an actual drink he would have called for them to be shut down on the spot. Sure the pressure of succeeding was a constant burden but sometimes it came in handy to be the one and only Detective Prince, and the authoritative status that came with the title was quite a nice bonus.

The raven haired heiress cocked her head a bit at this, as if trying to comprehend what Naoto had just said. "Huh…? Does that mean we're all just drunk off the atmosphere?" No, it meant that she, Teddie, and Rise were drunk off the atmosphere. Oh crud, what did Naoto think of him for hanging out with the likes of these kids? They were normally so cool, why couldn't he be around when they were more, err sober? Not that he was trying to show off but, considering he had friends unlike a certain cadet cap wearing snob, why not brag about it? Unfortunately, it was quite hard to boast about people who acted as such. Had they been on their absolute best behavior then Kanji knew that Naoto would be positively green with envy. And he wanted the boy to be jealous; he wanted to see the pain in Naoto's eyes as he realized the excruciating truth that Kanji was getting along fine without him. Of course he merely wanted the satisfaction for old time's sake; it wasn't as if he was still hurt over the whole thing. That was simply ridiculous. After all, they had just met before their fight; they hadn't been speaking for longer than they ever had been!

This whole endeavor had proved fruitless, what a terrible shame. He had wasted some valuable time that could have been spent purchasing a cheap lackluster souvenir, probably a watch or snow globe, for his grandfather. It only seemed polite; after all, the man had taken him in. A sudden vibration from his pocket caused the petite boy to glance nonchalantly at his cell phone. Waiting for him appeared to be a message from Dojima; hopefully it regarded the inquiry he had posed earlier that day via email. This had come just in time seeing as how these children were of absolutely no use to him. It seemed that it was about time that he finally put his master plan into action. Well, it wasn't exactly a master plan, more like a back-up plan. But that hardly mattered now, after so many failed attempts it was his only shot left at eternal glory. Sure it was hazardous to his health but, for the grandeur, he was willing to risk it all. "My apologies but I must depart. Thank you for inviting me to spend time with you; it was… enjoyable." Standing up quickly, he proceeded to hurry downstairs as fast as his short legs could possibly carry him without it being obvious that he was running.

Just where was Naoto going at this time of night? There was a strange look in his eyes just before he left the room that reminded Kanji of a mix of ecstatic excitement and pure terror. Also, what was that with his cell phone? Sure he had tried to be discrete, but that was assuming someone was not directly watching him. Not that Kanji would ever admit to anyone that he had not been able to take his eyes off Naoto since he had calmly walked down that flight of stairs at the beginning of the evening mind you. But that was only because he wanted to make sure the boy didn't try anything, not because he was into him or anything like that. The rebellious punk was perfectly straight thank you very much and he planned on staying that way. "Sorry guys but I'm out too. Somethin' I ate isn't sittin' right. Later." With a pointer and middle finger salute he stood up and walked slowly towards the stairs. About halfway down the flight stood his ex-friend, just standing there absently, as if he was pondering some deeper truth. Softly, so as to avoid disrupting the boy before him, Kanji approached the young detective. "H-Hey Naoto, whatcha thinkin' about?"

Turning around slowly Naoto came face to face with the very boy he wanted most to see; just in case his plan did not exactly 'work out' in his favor. How strange. He wanted nothing more than to talk to Kanji, to clear up all misconceptions, and to apologize for what he had previously said and done; but just how was he supposed to word it? For so long he had wanted to speak with the bleach haired and now he had no idea what he was supposed to say. He needed to seize the moment, now more than ever, for it might very well be his final opportunity to converse with the Tatsumi boy. But his mind refused to form any actual sentences that might help to answer Kanji's inquiry. Just how was he supposed to explain such a well thought process to one who had never face death head on? If anything he would think Naoto was crazy for even attempting such a stunt. So, instead of answering his question, the Detective Prince merely offered a light and tired smile and delivered a line that would haunt the delinquent for weeks to come. "Don't worry Kanji, everything will be alright soon… I promise."

* * *

**A/N:** So yeah… I jumped over a HUGE span on time at the beginning but nothing really happened outside of rescuing Rise and 'ol fish eyes… Also, I regret to say that my next chapter will not come within the week for my robotics team has another competition in Boston Thursday through Saturday. I'm wicked sorry.

**Next Chapter:** Who I Am Hates Who I've Been! The Detective Prince undertook this endeavor with the hopes of achieving glory and prestige; he was ready to face whatever came his way. He had studied for years, researched for moths, and planned his course of action with the utmost precision. In short the Shirogane child was prepared for everything…that is, everything but this.


End file.
